CHARLES   DEYBNS 


ORATIONS    AND    ADDRESSES 


• 


CHARLES  DEVENS 

ORATIONS  AND  ADDRESSES 


ON  VARIOUS  OCCASIONS 


CIVIL   AND   MILITARY 


EDITED    BY    HIS    NEPHEW 


ARTHUR    LITHGOW    DEVENS 


WITH    A    MEMOIR    BY 

JOHN   CODMAN   ROPES 

MEMBER    OF    THE    MASSACHUSETTS   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY,    THE   MILITARY 
HISTORICAL   SOCIETY    OF    MASSACHUSETTS,    ETC. 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND    COMPANY 
1891 


£173 


Copyright,  189 1, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


itg  13ress: 
JOHN  WILSON  AND  Sox,  CAMBRIDGE. 


C  O  X  T  E  N  T  S. 


PAGE 

MEMOIR 1 

ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 
SOCIETY  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,  AT  NEW 
HAVEN,  MAY  14,  1873 27 

ADDRESS  AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE  SOLDIERS'  MONU 
MENT  AT  WORCESTER,  JULY  15,  1874 61 

ORATION    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    ANNIVERSARY    OF    THE 

BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  JUNE  17,  1875 77 

ORATION  AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE  SOLDIERS'  MONU 
MENT  AT  BOSTON,  SEPTEMBER  17,  1877 131 

ADDRESS  AT  THE  COMMEMORATION  OF  THE  Two  HUNDRED 
AND  FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  FIRST  PARISH 
CHURCH  OF  CHARLESTOWN,  NOVEMBER  12,  1882  .  .  147 

COMMEMORATIVE  ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.  DELIV 
ERED  AT  FANEUIL  HALL,  BOSTON,  JULY  2G,  1885  .  .  155 

COMMEMORATIVE  ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.  DELIV 
ERED  AT  WORCESTER,  AUGUST  8,  1885 167 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  FIFTEENTH  REGIMENT  ASSOCIATION, 
O>T  THEIR  VlSIT  TO  THE  BATTLE-FIELD  OF  GETTYS 
BURG,  JUNE,  1886  .  . 170 


M71812 


VI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

ADDRESS  AS  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  ALUMNI  AT  THE  DINNER 
IN  MEMORIAL  HALL  ON  THE  Two  HUNDRED  AND  FIF 
TIETH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  FOUNDING  OF  HARVARD 
COLLEGE,  NOVEMBER  8,  1886 199 

ADDRESS    BEFORE    THE    LOYAL    LEGION   IN    MEMORY    OF 

GENERAL  SHERIDAN,  NOVEMBER  7,  1888 211 

EXTRACTS  FROM  THREE  ADDRESSES  AS  PRESIDENT  OF 
THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT  ASSOCIATION  IN  1887, 
1888,  1889 225 

ORATION  ON  THE  TWENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE 
LOYAL  LEGION.  DELIVERED  AT  PHILADELPHIA,  APRIL 
15,  1890 273 


MEMOIR. 


To  no  man  of  this  generation  more  fully  than  to 
Charles  Devens  can  be  paid  the  honor  due  to  faith 
ful  and  honorable  public  service.  Devotion  to  the 
State,  obedience  to  the  call  of  his  country,  —  these 
were  his  conspicuous  traits.  His  service  was  un 
grudging.  When  the  war  came,  he  freely  stepped 
forward.  He  was  at  the  front  in  some  of  the 
bloodiest  and  most  obstinate  of  the  Virginia  bat 
tles.  His  public  life  was  long,  distinguished,  and 
absolutely  unblemished.  No  cloud  ever  rested  for 
a  moment  upon  his  fair  fame.  His  honors  were 
won  by  no  devious  methods,  by  no  unworthy  con 
cessions.  His  ambition  was  lofty,  and  it  was 
disinterested.  It  was,  moreover,  successful.  The 
confidence  of  the  public  rewarded  his  unmistak 
able  devotion  to  the  public  good.  The  whole 
community  rejoiced  to  do  him  honor.  Many  men 
in  our  day  have  won  public  attention  and  some 
times  public  gratitude  by  advocating  great  changes, 
by  heading  great  reforms,  or  by  being  inseparably 


2  MEMOIR. 

connected  with  the  controversies  of  the  day,  moral, 
political,  or  religious ;  but  Charles  Devens  was 
not  one  of  these.  He  was  simply  a  good  citizen, 
a  brave  soldier,  an  upright  magistrate,  a  true 
patriot. 

t Helt  was  u  born  at.  No.  30  Union  Street,  Charles- 
towri/now  V  $3rt  :of  Boston,  on  April  4,  1820.  He 
.^4^^4]j^j^^44j§s"aj3d  Mary  (Lithgow)  Devens. 
His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Arthur 
Lithgowr  of  Augusta,  Maine.  His  great-grand 
father,  Richard  Devens,  was  a  member  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety  and  Commissary-General  of 
Massachusetts  during  the  Revolution. 

He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1838 
at  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  James  Russell  Lowell 
and  William  W.  Story  being;  among;  his  classmates. 

*/  O  O 

He  studied  law  at  the  Harvard  Law  School,  and 
received  the  degree  of  LL.B.  in  1840,  in  company 
with  the  late  Chief- Justice  Morton.  He  pursued 
his  studies  in  the  office  of  William  J.  Hubbard 
and  Francis  0.  Watts  in  Boston,  and  in  1841  was 
admitted  to  the  bar. 

For  some  years  he  practised  in  Franklin  County, 
residing  first  at  Northfield  and  afterwards  at  Green 
field.  In  the  years  1848  and  1849  he  represented 
his  district  in  the  State  Senate.  When  the  Whigs 
came  into  power  by  the  election  of  General  Taylor, 
Mr.  Devens  was  made  United  States  Marshal  for 


MEMOIR.  3 

the  District  of  Massachusetts,  —  an  office  which  he 
held  for  the  four  years  between  1849  and  1853. 

It  was  during  this  time  that  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Bill  was  passed,  as  part  of  the  "  Compromise 
Measures  of  1850;  "  and  it  became  on  one  occasion 
Mr.  Devens's  painful  duty  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  the  return  of  a  fugitive.  One 
Sims,  a  slave  belonging  in  Georgia,  escaped  to  Bos 
ton  in  April,  1851.  The  United  States  Commis 
sioner  under  the  recent  Act  heard  the  case,  decided 
it  in  favor  of  the  claim  of  the  owner,  and  directed 
the  United  States  Marshal  to  escort  the  prisoner  to 
the  vessel  on  which  he  was  to  be  transported  back 
to  Georgia.  The  legal  duty  thus  imposed  upon  the 
Marshal  was  without  exception  the  most  repulsive 
which  could  by  any  possibility  fall  to  his  lot.  A 
poor  slave,  who  had  presumably  made  his  escape 
either  because  his  fate  was  exceptionally  hard  or 
because  his  love  of  liberty  was  exceptionally  strong, 
was  to  be  refused  an  asylum  in  the  Commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts,  and  sent  back  to  slavery.  It  was 
against  all  the  natural  sympathies  of  the  human 
heart,  contrary  to  the  humane  and  tolerant  spirit 
of  this  community,  opposed  indeed  to  the  natural 
sense  of  justice,  certainly  as  we  in  Massachusetts 
had  for  nearly  a  century  recognized  it,  that  this 
poor  black  should  be  sent  back  to  his  former  help 
less  and  hopeless  condition  of  servitude.  No  one 


4  MEMOIR. 

could  wish  to  have  any  part  in  such  an  action.  Its 
morality  depended  on  the  relative  weight  which  a 
right-minded,  public-spirited,  and  humane  citizen 
would  assign  to  the  considerations  which  have  just 
been  stated  as  contrasted  with  the  obligations 
resting  upon  all  good  citizens,  and  especially  upon 
those  who  have  assumed  the  duties  of  public  office, 
to  execute  the  laws  of  the  land.  Fortunately  for 
this  community,  and  for  the  cause  of  good  govern 
ment,  Marshal  Devens  decided  in  favor  of  the  par 
amount  and  superior  authority  of  the  obligations 
which  rested  upon  him  as  an  officer  of  the  law  ; 
and  in  face  of  the  unpopularity  and  miscon 
struction  of  motives  and  personal  abuse  in  which 
his  action  was  sure  to  involve  him,  he  acted  with 
vigor  and  decision.  That  he  should  have  so  fully 
and  satisfactorily  met  such  a  perplexing  and  trying 
emergency  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-one,  argued 
well  for  his  future  as  a  public  servant. 

While,  however,  Mr.  Devens  was  determined  to 
do  his  duty  as  an  officer  of  the  law,  he  spared  no 
pains  to  ransom  its  unfortunate  victim.  He  set  on 
foot  negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  Sims,  which, 
though  not  successful,  failed  through  no  fault  of 
his.  No  one  could  feel  more  keenly  than  he  the 
pain  of  participating,  even  in  an  official  capacity, 
in  the  wretched  task  of  surrendering  a  fugitive 
slave. 


MEMOIR.  5 

When  the  Whig  administration  of  Mr.  Fillmore 
was  succeeded  by  the  Democratic  administration 
of  Mr.  Buchanan,  Mr.  Devens  returned  to  the 
practice  of  the  law,  —  this  time  in  Worcester, 
and  in  partnership  with  Mr.  George  F.  Hoar,  now 
one  of  the  senators  from  Massachusetts. 

In  April,  1861,  upon  the  first  call  of  President 
Lincoln  for  troops,  Mr.  Devens  accepted  the  com 
mand,  as  major,  of  the  Third  Battalion  of  Rifles 
of  the  Massachusetts  militia.  While  in  command 
of  this  battalion  at  Fort  McHenry  near  Baltimore, 
he  was  offered  by  Governor  Andrew,  and  accepted, 
the  commission  of  colonel  of  the  Fifteenth  Regi 
ment  of  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  —  a  Worcester 
County  regiment,  and  one  of  the  best  sent  out 
by  the  State.  It  was  immediately  incorporated 
into  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  In  the  unfor 
tunate  affair  of  Ball's  Bluff,  on  October  21,  1861, 
this  regiment,  under  command  of  Colonel  Devens, 
crossed  the  river  and  took  its  part  with  a  portion 
of  the  Twentieth  Massachusetts  and  other  troops 
in  one  of  the  most  obstinate  and  bloody  encounters 
of  the  war.  Here  Devens  distinguished  himself  for 
gallantry  and  coolness.  He  was  slightly  wounded, 
and  finally  had  to  swim  the  river  to  Harrison's 
Island. 

He  was  soon  afterward  made  a  brigadier-gen 
eral  of  volunteers,  and  assigned  to  the  command 


6  MEMOIR. 

of  an  excellent  brigade,  consisting  of  the  Seventh 
and  Tenth  Massachusetts,  the  Second  Rhode  Is 
land,  and  the  Thirty-Sixth  New  York,  to  which 
in  September,  1862,  the  Thirty-Seventh  Massa 
chusetts  was  added.  This  force  formed  a  part  of 
Couch's  division  of  the  Fourth  Corps,  which  was 
then  under  the  command  of  General  Keyes.  This 
corps  and  the  Third,  under  General  Heintzelrnan, 
were  thrown  across  the  Chickahominy  in  the  latter 
part  of  May,  1862,  thus  constituting  the  advance 
of  the  army.  On  these  two  corps  the  Confederate 
general,  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  concentrated  his 
forces,  hoping  to  overwhelm  them  before  the 
remainder  of  the  army  could  be  brought  over 
the  treacherous  bridges  of  the  Chickahominy  to 
their  assistance.  On  the  31st  of  May  the  blow 
fell  ;  and  in  spite  of  an  obstinate  and  courageous 
defence,  our  troops  were  slowly  forced  back  until 
the  enemy's  strength  became  exhausted,  and  our 
reinforcements  under  the  gallant  Sumner  arid 
Sedgwick  appeared  on  the  field.  In  this  severe 
action  General  Devens  won  new  laurels.  "  With 
only  two  regiments,"  says  General  Couch  in  his 
official  report,  "  he  held  his  own  firmly.  .  .  . 
Severely  wounded,  he  remained  bravely  on  the 
field  until  the  last  shot  was  fired." 

General  Devens's  wound  prevented  his  taking 
part  in  the  Seven  Days'  battles  near  Richmond, 


MEMOIR.  7 

at  the  close  of  which  our  army  took  up  early  in 
July  a  strong  position  at  Harrison's  Landing  on 
the  James.  In  September,  the  army  was  removed 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Washington,  and  under 
General  McClellan  fought  the  bloody  battle  of 
Antietam,  which  brought  Lee's  invasion  of  Mary 
land  to  a  sudden  and  unsuccessful  termination. 
In  these  operations  Couch's  division  was  not  ac 
tively  engaged  ;  it  reached  the  field  of  Antietam 
late  in  the  forenoon  of  the  18th,  the  day  after 
the  battle. 

In  the  autumn  of  1862,  this  division,  now  no 
longer  under  Couch,  who  had  been  promoted  to 
the  command  of  the  Second  Corps,  was  transferred 
to  the  Sixth  Corps,  then  under  Franklin ;  and 
when  that  officer  was  assigned  to  the  command  of 
the  Left  Grand  Division  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  a  change  made  by  Burnside,  who  in 
November  replaced  McClellan  in  command  of  the 
army,  the  Sixth  Corps  was  placed  under  General 
William  F.  Smith,  and  the  division  was  assigned 
to  General  John  Newton. 

In  the  movement  upon  Fredericksburg,  on  De 
cember  11,  1862,  the  Sixth  Corps  crossed  the  Rap- 
pahannock  below  the  town.  Devens's  brigade  led 
the  advance  ;  and  when,  owing  to  the  lateness  of 
the  hour,  it  was  thought  best  to  retire  all  the 
troops  but  one  brigade,  it  was  that  of  General 


8  MEMOIR. 

Deveus  which  General  Newton  selected  to  hold 
the  bridges  on  the  enemy's  side  of  the  river  dur 
ing  the  night.  So  when  on  the  15th,  after  the 
loss  of  the  main  battle,  the  Sixth  Corps  was  with 
drawn  to  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  it  was  again 
Devens  who  requested  and  was  given  the  honor 
of  covering  with  his  brigade  the  recrossing  of  the 
troops. 

In  these  operations  Devens  won  the  high  com 
mendation  of  his  superiors.  "  General  Devens  and 
Colonel  Torbert,"  says  General  Smith  in  his  report, 
"  deserve  especial  mention  for  the  promptitude  and 
precision  with  which  they  formed  their  lines  to 
cover  the  crossing."  "  My  obligations,"  says  Gen 
eral  Newton,  "  are  due  .  .  .  especially  to  Brigadier- 
General  Charles  Devens,  who  commanded  the  ad 
vance  and  rear  guard  in  the  crossing  and  recrossing 
of  the  river." 

But  war  has  its  cruel  surprises  for  the  bravest 
and  steadiest  of  soldiers.  Promoted  to  the  com 
mand  of  a  division  in  the  Eleventh  Corps  under 
General  Howard,  it  was  General  Devens's  lot  to 
hold  the  extreme  right  of  our  line  at  Chancellors- 
ville.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  General 
Hooker,  had  crossed  the  Rappahannock  above  Fred- 
ericksburg  in  the  last  days  of  April,  1863,  had 
advanced  some  miles  towards  that  city  on  the  1st 
of  May,  had  then  unwisely  and  unaccountably 


MEMOIR.  9 

been  ordered  to  fall  back  into  the  dense  woods 
from  which  it  had  just  emerged,  and  had  taken 
up  a  position  facing  east  and  south,  with  its  head 
quarters  at  the  Chancellor  house.  This  position 
was  at  once  intrenched  and  rendered  formidable 
on  its  southern  face. 

General  Lee,  whose  army  certainly  was  not 
more  than  half  as  strong  as  that  of  his  opponent, 
could  hardly  venture  on  a  direct  attack ;  yet  he 
felt  that  the  situation  was  one  of  extreme  gravity. 
There  was  no  telling  how  large  a  force  the  Fed 
erals  could  concentrate,  nor  when  it  might  suit 
them  to  take  the  offensive  in  good  earnest.  It  was 
of  extreme  importance  to  drive  them  at  once  to 
recross  the  river.  Hence  he  listened  willingly  to 
the  daring  and  brilliant  proposal  of  Stonewall 
Jackson,  his  favorite  lieutenant,  that  he  should 
march  around  the  front  of  our  army  and  fall  upon 
it  from  the  westward.  They  had  correctly  sur 
mised  that  no  attack  from  this  quarter  would 
be  expected  by  our  generals.  The  march  of 
Jackson's  column  was  indeed  discovered;  but 
although  at  half-past  nine  in  the  morning 
Hooker  ordered  Howard  to  strengthen  his  right 
flank  so  as  to  be  prepared  to  resist  an  attack 
from  that  direction,  should  any  be  made,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  movement 
was  thought  by  Hooker,  and  by  Howard  also. 


10  MEMOIR. 

to  be  a  movement  in  retreat.  Troops  were  sent 
out  from  the  main  line  to  harass  and  annoy  the 
flying  foe.  One  brigade  —  that  of  Barlow  — 
was  even  taken  by  Hooker  from  Howard's  com 
mand  to  support  this  attack.  But  Jackson  was 
not  to  be  diverted  from  his  purpose.  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  May 
2,  he  attained  a  position  west  of  the  Eleventh 
Corps  line,  and,  facing  to  the  east,  advanced  in 
line  of  battle  on  its  exposed  flank.  Devens  had 
indeed  placed  a  couple  of  regiments  and  a  sec 
tion  of  artillery  to  repel  an  assault  from  this 
quarter,  should  any  be  made.  Much  more  than 
this  he  no  doubt  would  have  done,  had  he  been 
in  command  of  the  corps.  It  seems  certain1 
that  he  early  in  the  day  suspected  the  real 
character  of  the  enemy's  movement;  but  the  in 
formation  which  raised  these  suspicions  in  his 
mind,  although  transmitted  promptly  to  corps 
headquarters,  failed  to  elicit  any  order  for  him 
to  change  his  dispositions. 

Had  he  possessed  greater  military  sagacity  or 
wider  military  experience,  and  so  been  able  to 
divine  the  object  of  the  enemy,  or  had  the  in 
formation  which  he  received  made  a  greater  im 
pression  on  his  mind,  —  in  fine,  we  may  fairly 

1  See  his  testimony  before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War  (Report  1865,  vol.  i.  p.  179). 


MEMOIR.  11 

say,  had  he  dared  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
changing  the  dispositions  of  his  division,  —  he 
might  at  least  have  rendered  the  impending  dis 
aster  less  overwhelming.  But  General  Devens 
was  not  a  military  man  by  education,  nor  was 
he  a  military  genius ;  he  had  had  very  little  ex 
perience  in  the  field  ;  he  was  commanding  a  divi 
sion  for  the  first  time;  he  was  directly  under  the 
eye  of  his  corps  commander,  —  a  regular  officer,  to 
whom  he  had  transmitted  all  the  information  he 
had  received,  and  on  whom  it  evidently  made  no 
impression  whatever.  Lastly,  the  withdrawal  of 
Barlow's  brigade  by  Hooker's  express  order  dur 
ing  the  afternoon  must  have  convinced  Devens 
that  the  general  commanding  the  army  looked 
at  the  whole  matter  as  not  deserving  serious 
attention. 

The  greater  part  of  his  division  was  facing 
south.  It  constituted  the  prolongation  of  the 
front  of  the  army  towards  the  west.  Without 
orders  he  did  not  feel  justified  in  stripping  a 
portion  of  what  was  considered  by  his  superiors 
as  the  main  line  of  battle.  He  did,  as  we  have 
seen,  make  some  dispositions  for  defending  his 
right  flank;  but  all  the  dispositions  that  he 
could  have  made  on  his  own  responsibility 
would  have  been  wholly  inadequate  to  the  needs 
of  the  occasion.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 


12  MEMOIR. 

the  storm  broke,  and  in  a  few  minutes  compara 
tively  Devens's  whole  division  was  routed.  He 
himself,  wounded  severely  in  the  foot,  unable  to 
remount  his  horse,  remained  with  his  unfor 
tunate  command  to  the  last,  gallantly  striving 
to  rally  the  troops,  and  to  interpose  to  the  vic 
torious  advance  of  the  Confederates  an  obstinate 
even  if  an  ineffectual  resistance.  His  efforts,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  were  unavailing.  The 
rout  of  the  Eleventh  Corps,  badly  posted  and  out 
numbered  as  it  was,  was  complete  ;  but  Devens 
did  all  that  a  brave  man  and  a  gallant  officer 
could  do  to  retrieve  the  fortunes  of  the  fight. 

His  wound,  which  was  a  serious  one,  wras  not 
cured  when  his  division  was  again  flanked  and 
routed  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Gettysburg.  In  fact, 
lie  never  rejoined  it  after  Chancellorsville :  and  the 
next  time  we  see  him  in  the  field  it  is  at  the  head 
of  the  Third  Division  of  the  Eighteenth  Corps, 
then  under  Devens's  former  commander,  General 
William  F.  Smith.  That  officer,  who,  with  General 
Gillmore,  had  been  serving  under  General  Butler 
on  the  James  River  in  the  latter's  ill-planned  and 
unsuccessful  movements  directed  upon  Richmond 
from  Bermuda  Hundred,  was  in  the  latter  part  of 
May,  1864,  ordered  to  join  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  with  a  force  of  about  sixteen  thousand  men. 

• 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  after  a  series  of  bloody 


MEMOIR.  13 

and  indecisive  battles  at  the  Wilderness,  Spottsyl- 
vania,  and  the  North  Anna,  was  then  about  to  cross 
the  Panmnkey.  Smith,  when  he  arrived,  was  or 
dered  to  Cold  Harbor,  where  his  command  at  first 
took  up  a  position  between  the  Fifth  and  Sixth 
corps.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  1st  of  June  an  as 
sault  on  the  enemy's  lines  was  made.  ''  The  Third 
Division,  under  the  command  of  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  Charles  Devens,  consisting  of  the  brigades  of 
Colonel  Drake  and  Colonel  Barton,"  says  General 
Smith  in  his  despatch  of  the  2d  of  June,  "  charged 
across  an  open  field,  1,250  yards  in  width,  swept 
by  a  cross-fire  of  the  enemy's  artillery,  carried  the 
edge  of  the  woods,  and  drove  the  enemy  from 
their  intrench ments,  which  were  protected  by 
slashings  and  entanglements,  taking  some  250 
prisoners."  In  the  general  assault  along  the  whole 
line,  known  as  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  which 
was  made  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  June, 
"  General  Devens's  command,"  says  General  Smith 
in  his  formal  report,  "  held  my  right  flank,  and 
had  been  so  much  cut  up  in  officers  and  men  during 
the  two  days  previous  that  I  did  not  deem  it  in 
condition  to  do  more  than  act  on  the  defensive." 
In  his  article  in  the  work  entitled  "  Battles  and 
Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  published  by  the  Cen 
tury  Company,  General  Smith  explains  (p.  225) 
that  "  a  gap  of  nearly  two  miles  between  the  right 


14  MEMOIR. 

of  the  Eighteenth  Corps  and  the  left  of  the  Fifth 
Corps  under  Warren  made  it  necessary  to  throw 
back  the  right  flank  of  the  [Eighteenth]  Corps  to 
hold  the  open  plain  and  roads,  and  to  prevent  that 
flank  from  being  turned.  This  necessarily  put  the 
division  on  the  right  quite  out  of  the  battle,  ex 
cept  in  the  use  of  its  artillery  at  rather  long 
range.  .  .  .  The  plan  adopted  gave  to  Devens, 
with  his  division,  the  duty  of  keeping  the  right 
flank  secure."  This  task  General  Devens  faith 
fully  performed,  although  suffering  so  severely 
from  rheumatism  that  he  was  obliged  to  ask  for 
leave  of  absence.  On  June  4,  "  General  Dev 
ens,"  says  Smith  in  his  report,  "  who  had  done 
duty  during  the  3d,  and  [had  been]  carried  about 
on  a  stretcher,  was  relieved,  on  account  of  his 
health,  by  General  Ames." 

On  recovering  from  this  illness,  General  Devens 
returned  with  alacrity  to  duty,  this  time  as  com 
manding  the  Third  Division  of  the  Twenty-fourth 
Corps  under  General  Gibbon,  which  constituted  a 
part  of  the  Army  of  the  James,  under  General 
Ord.  On  the  27th  of  March,  1865,  the  final  cam 
paign  began.  The  greater  part  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Corps,  together  with  other  troops  from  the 
Army  of  the  James,  took  the  field,  to  act  in  con 
junction  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Devens's 
division  remained  in  the  works;  and  by  a  great 


MEMOIR.  15 

piece  of  good  fortune  it  fell  to  him  to  lead  the 
first  Federal  troops  into  the  capital  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  Early  in  the  morning  of  the  3d 
of  April,  the  Federal  forces  under  General  Weitzel, 
the  commander  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Corps,  entered 
the  city  ;  and  the  division  of  Devens  led  in  this 
triumphant  march. 

We  have  been  somewhat  particular  in  giving  the 
details  of  General  Devens's  military  services,  be 
cause  they  are  presumably  less  well  remembered 
by  the  public  of  the  present  day  than  his  long  and 
honorable  career  on  the  bench.  But  it  is  well  that 
it  should  be  known  that  he  was  no  holiday  soldier. 
He  took  his  full  share  of  fatigue,  of  responsibility, 
of  danger.  His  merits  were,  as  we  have  seen,  re 
cognized  by  all  his  superior  officers ;  and  we  may 
add  that  it  was  at  the  request  of  General  Grant 
that  he  received  his  brevet  of  major-general  of 
volunteers  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct. 

He  continued  in  the  service  for  about  a  year 
after  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  being  for  the 
greater  part  of  that  time  in  command  of  the 
Federal  troops  in  South  Carolina,  In  I860  he 
was  mustered  out  of  service. 

He  at  once  returned  to  Boston  to  resume  the 
practice  of  the  law ;  but  in  1867  Governor  Bul 
lock  appointed  him  to  the  bench  of  the  Superior 
Court.  Here  he  served  about  six  years,  when  he 


16  MEMOIR. 

was  promoted  by  Governor  Washburn  to  a  seat 
upon  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court. 
For  about  four  years  he  filled  this  position  to  the 
great  satisfaction  of  the  community. 

In  March,  1877,  President  Hayes  offered  him  a 
place  in  his  cabinet,  —  that  of  Attorney-General 
of  the  United  States.  It  is  an  open  secret  that 
Judge  Devens  hesitated  seriously  before  accepting 
this  offer.  He  was  nearly  fifty-seven  years  of  age  ; 
he  occupied  a  seat  on  the  highest  judicial  bench 
in  his  own  State ;  he  would  have  no  right  to  claim 
or  expect  a  restoration  to  this  position  on  his  re 
turn  from  Washington  ;  and  he  would  then  be 
almost  too  old  to  resume  practice  at  the  bar.  Nor 
would  his  private  means,  without  a  professional 
income,  furnish  him  a  sufficient  support.  More 
over,  he  had  been  away  from  home  for  five  years, 
and  he  much  preferred  living  in  Massachusetts  to 
a  residence  far  away  from  his  friends  and  his  own 
people.  But  the  request  of  the  President  seemed 
like  a  call  of  duty,  and  he  went.  The  tasks'  of 
his  office,  though  new  to  him,  were  of  course  in 
the  general  line  of  his  professional  experience,  and 
he  discharged  them  to  the  evident  satisfaction  of 
the  government.  His  life  in  Washington  naturally 
brought  him  in  contact  with  many  of  the  distin 
guished  men  of  the  country,  the  men  who  had  won 
our  victories  in  the  late  war,  and  who  had,  in 


MEMOIR.  17 

or  out  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  cabinet,  shown  states 
manship  and  ability.  For  society  of  this  kind, 
and  in  fact  for  general  society  of  every  kind, 
General  Devens  was  eminently  fitted  ;  and  doubt 
less  he  enjoyed  to  the  full  all  the  opportunities  of 
this  nature  which  Washington  official  life  so  richly 
offers. 

He  returned  to  Massachusetts  at  the  close  of 
Mr.  Hayes's  administration ;  and  in  April,  1881, 
he  was  reappointed  to  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court 
by  Governor  Long,  and  on  that  bench  he  sat  until 
removed  by  death. 

General  Devens's  health  had  always  been  of  the 
best.  Even  the  harsh  experience  of  the  war,  al 
though  endured  long  after  the  elasticity  of  youth 
had  passed  away,  —  for  he  was  forty-one  years  old 
when  the  war  broke  out,  —  failed  to  make  any 
impression  on  his  vigorous  constitution.  He  was 
always  able  to  get  through  his  official  work  as  a 
judge  without  worry,  and  his  evenness  of  temper 
and  habitual  command  of  a  good  working  phil 
osophy  of  daily  life  seemed  to  preserve  him  from 
the  annoyances  and  trials  which  beset  most  men 
who  do  their  fair  share  of  work  in  this  world. 
No  change  was  visible  in  him  until  perhaps  a  year 
before  his  death,  when  he  sometimes  complained 
of  not  feeling  as  strong  and  well  as  usual,  or,  to 
be  more  accurate,  quietly  mentioned  the  fact  to  his 


18  MEMOIR. 

more  intimate  friends ;  but  he  made  no  alteration 
in  his  daily  life.  He  went  as  constantly  to  his  ac 
customed  seat  on  the  bench,  to  his  habitual  chair 
at  his  club  ;  he  was  to  be  seen  as  often  at  the 
houses  of  his  friends.  In  the  latter  part  of  De 
cember,  1890,  however,  he  grew  suddenly  weaker ; 
it  was  feared  that  there  was  something  wrong 
about  the  action  of  the  heart ;  still  no  immediate 
consequences  were  apprehended.  He  apparently 
did  not  suffer,  and  there  was  little  in  his  condition 
to  indicate  a  serious  illness  ;  but  he  was  in  reality 
rapidly  nearing  the  end,  and  on  the  afternoon  of 
Wednesday,  January  7, 1891,  he  died.  His  nephew, 
Mr.  Arthur  Lithgow  Devens,  and  others  of  his 
relatives  were  present  at  the  last.  His  death  was 
sudden,  and  without  pain,  just  as  he  would  have 
wished  it  to  be. 

He  was  buried  from  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  on 
Saturday,  January  10,  1891,  with  military  honors. 
The  coffin  was  borne  by  eight  non-commissioned  of 
ficers  of  the  Second  United  States  Artillery.  The 
military  escort  consisted  of  detachments  of  the 
First  Regiment  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Militia 
and  of  Batteries  B  and  D,  Second  United  States 
Artillery.  The  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal 
Legion,  of  which  General  Devens  had  for  years 
been  the  Commander,  attended  in  force.  The 
bench  and  the  bar  were  largely  represented,  Chief- 


MEMOIR.  19 

Justice  Field  being  one  of  the  pall-bearers.  The 
church  was  crowded.  The  burial  service  was  read 
by  the  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks,  D.  D.  While  the  coffin 
was  being  carried  from  the  church,  "  taps  "  were 
sounded  from  various  parts  of  the  building,  and 
Sullivan's  "  Lost  Chord"  was  played  on  the  bugle. 
The  remains  were  interred  in  the  family  lot  in 
Mount  Auburn  Cemetery. 

The  life  which  we  have  just  sketched  was  an 
unusually  honorable,  useful,  and  happy  life.  Few 
men  have  ever  lived  who  were  better  fitted  to  dis 
charge  the  ordinary  tasks  which  belong  to  public 
office  —  whether  civil  or  military  —  than  was 
Charles  Devens.  He  brought  to  their  accomplish 
ment,  in  the  first  place,  an  honest,  courageous, 
and  unreserved  purpose  to  do  his  duty,  and  in 
the  second  place,  sound  judgment,  great  tact,  and 
good  administrative  ability.  His  duties,  it  is  true, 
did  not  lie  in  the  highest  regions  of  the  public  ser 
vice.  He  never  commanded  an  army,  or  even  an 
army  corps.  He  was  an  Associate  Justice  only 
of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court.  Nor  did  he  ever 
strongly  desire  the  greater  responsibilities  or  the 
more  conspicuous  opportunities  of  distinction 
which  the  chief  control  alone  affords.  His 
ambition,  though  a  strong  and  an  honorable 
ambition,  was  under  the  strict  rule  of  his  judg 
ment.  He  never  thought  of  himself  more  highly 


20  MEMOIR. 

than  he  ought  to  have  thought.  He  correctly 
estimated  his  own  powers  and  his  own  attain 
ments.  That  which  he  knew  himself  capable  of 
doing  he  was  honorably  anxious  to  do.  His  stand 
ard  was  high.  His  work  was  done  thoroughly 
and  effectively,  and  with  a  masculine  strength 
and  sobriety  that  won  general  admiration. 

He  was  on  the  whole  satisfied  with  his  career. 
It  afforded  to  his  peculiar  powers  and  faculties  ex 
cellent  opportunities  for  exercise,  growth;  and  suc 
cessful  activity. 

As  an  officer  of  the  army  he  rose  by  gradual 
steps  and  by  his  own  merits  as  high  as  most  of 
those  who  had  had  no  professional  training  in  the 
art  of  war,  leaving  out  of  the  comparison,  of  course, 
the  two  major-generals  from  this  State  whom 
President  Lincoln  commissioned  almost  before  the 
first  shot  had  been  fired.  Devens's  promotions  in 
the  army  were  all  deserved.  His  services,  though 
equalled,  no  doubt,  by  those  of  many  others,  and 
not  especially  conspicuous,  were  the  services  of  a 
brave,  faithful,  and  competent  officer. 

To  his  duties  as  a  judge  he  brought  a  mind 
characterized  by  strong  common-sense  and  actu 
ated  by  an  equally  strong  love  of  justice.  He 
moreover  carried  with  him  always  the  recollection 
that  a  judge  is,  first  of  all,  a  magistrate,  whose 
office  it  is  to  decide  controversies  and  disputes 


MEMOIR.  21 

according  to  the  well-established  principles  of  the 
law  of  the  land ;  and  he  never  lost  sight  of  this 
fundamental  conception  of  duty.  He  never  used 
the  opportunities  which  a  case  presented  for  the 
purpose  of  displaying  his  own  acumen  or  learning. 
He  kept  the  main  end  of  the  law  always  plainly  be 
fore  his  eyes.  He  was  always  serious,  candid,  willing 
to  hear,  able  to  defer  making  up  his  mind  until  the 
case  had  been  fully  presented.  He  never  aimed 
at  showing  himself  able  to  comprehend  a  tangled 
question  merely  by  glancing  at  the  pleadings. 
Though  always  preserving  fully  the  dignity  of  his 
station,  he  was  invariably  courteous.  It  was  a 
pleasure  to  go  before  him.  He  did  not  possess 
or  pretend  to  possess  deep  or  varied  learning,  but 
he  made  up  for  this  lack  in  great  part  by  his  long 
experience  and  his  remarkable  ability  to  under 
stand  human  nature.  His  mind  was  not  specially 
acute  or  deep,  but  his  rare  common-sense,  his  un 
failing  patience,  and  his  strong  desire  to  possess 
himself  of  the  facts  and  law  of  every  cause  that  he 
was  called  upon  to  hear  rendered  him  one  of  the 
most  useful  judges  that  have  sat  on  the  Supreme 
Bench  in  our  time. 

It  was,  however,  as  an  orator  that  General 
Devens  gained  his  greatest  distinction.  Of  com 
manding  presence  and  fine  figure,  a  notably  hand 
some  man  at  all  periods  of  his  life,  possessed  of  a 


22  MEMOIR. 

strong  and  flexible  voice,  he  had  all  the  external 
graces  and  gifts  of  a  public  speaker;  but  these 
were  the  least  of  his  qualifications.  He  was 
a  master  in  the  art  of  weaving  an  oration  out  of 
the  facts  and  associations  of  a  famous  historical 
event,  out  of  the  strong  and  heroic  qualities  of  a 
great  man.  He  invariably  rose  to  the  full  height 
of  his  subject,  whatever  it  was  ;  and  he  always 
carried  his  audience  with  him.  He  knew  in 
stinctively  how  to  reach  their  hearts.  His  very 
presence  attracted  them.  His  language,  strong 
though  restrained,  his  evident  deep  feeling,  kept 
always  sufficiently  in  check,  but  yet  by  degrees 
infusing  itself  into  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  his 
ability  to  seize  on  the  telling  points  of  the  topic 
to  which  he  was  addressing  himself,  and  his  evi 
dent  sincerity  and  patriotic  fervor  constituted 
him  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  effective  of  our 
public  orators.  The  events  and  men  of  the  Revo 
lution  and  of  the  Civil  War  were  his  principal 
themes  ;  but  his  reverence  and  affection  for  his 
Alma  Mater  made  him  on  many  occasions,  and 
notably  on  that  of  the  celebration  of  the  two 
hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  founding 
of  Harvard  College,  not  to  be  sure,  the  chosen 
representative  of  her  literary  eminence,  but  the 
one  to  preside  over  her  alumni  and  to  be  her 
spokesman  to  the  outer  world.  On  these  occa- 


MEMOIR.  23 

sions  he  was  always  felicitous,  always  in  touch 
with  both  the  college  and  the  public,  always 
and  unmistakably  successful. 

Judge  Devens  was  never  married ;  but  "  he 
lavished  on  his  relatives,"  as  a  lifelong  friend  of 
his  has  said,  "  the  love  he  would  have  given  to 
wife  and  children."  He  was  a  devoted  son  «and 
brother.  His  younger  relatives  were  very  near 
and  dear  to  him  ;  yet  he  was  eminently  a  man 
among  men.  His  acquaintance  was  very  large. 
He  was  a  man  of  many  friends ;  he  was  always 
urbane,  kindly,  tolerant,  attractive.  His  at 
tachments  to  those  whom  he  honored  with  his 
friendship  were  strong  and  unchanging.  He 
was  a  good  talker,  and  possessed  a  delightful 
sense  of  humor,  which  enabled  him  to  gather 
from  his  varied  experiences  many  most  amus 
ing  stories ;  for  though  he  was  a  man  who  took 
life  seriously,  there  was  always  a  wholesome 
and  cheerful  tone  about  his  ways  and  his 
conversation. 

The  orations  and  addresses  which  follow  have 
been  selected  out  of  a  great  many.  It  is  hoped 
that  apart  from  the  pleasure  which  they  may  be 
expected  to  yield  in  the  perusal,  they  will  be  wel 
comed  as  presenting  the  views  of  an  able,  well- 
read,  and  competent  critic  and  observer,  as  well  as 
the  reflections  and  deductions  of  a  man  of  genuine 


24  MEMOIR. 

eloquence  and  patriotic  feeling.  They  possess,  no 
doubt,  a  special  interest  for  this  generation ;  but 
they  deserve,  it  is  believed,  a  permanent  place  in 
the  historical  literature  of  Massachusetts.  The 
Centennial  Address  on  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
the  Oration  before  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on 
General  Meade,  and  the  Worcester  Oration  on  Gen 
eral  Grant  are  certainly  in  this  category.  But 
perhaps  nothing  that  he  ever  said  was  finer  than 
the  brief  address  to  his  men  after  their  first  battle. 
We  take  the  following  account  from  the  New  York 
Herald  of  October  30,  1861,  and  with  this  most 
fit  and  eloquent  appeal  we  bring  this  memoir  to  a 
close :  — 

"  After  parade  the  regiment  was  formed  in  square, 
and  their  noble  and  gallant  Colonel  Devens  made  them 
an  address,  to  which  even  a  faithful  verbal  report  would 
do  injustice,  for  no  description  could  reproduce  the 
tender,  subdued  fervor  with  which  the  colonel  first 
spoke,  the  electric  sympathy  by  which  his  men  were 
affected,  or  the  earnest  determination  with  which  the 
question  was  asked  and  answered. 

"  4  Soldiers  of  Massachusetts,  men  of  Worcester  County, 
with  these  fearful  gaps  in  your  lines,  with  the  recollec 
tion  of  the  terrible  struggle  of  Monday  fresh  upon  your 
thoughts,  with  the  knowledge  of  the  bereaved  and  soul- 
stricken  ones  at  home,  weeping  for  those  whom  they  will 
see  no  more  on  earth,  with  that  hospital  before  your 
eyes  filled  with  Avounded  and  maimed  comrades,  I  ask 
you  now  whether  you  are  ready  again  to  meet  the  trai- 


MEMOIR.  25 

torous  foe  who  are  endeavoring  to  subvert  our  govern 
ment,  and  who  are  crushing  under  the  iron  heel  of 
despotism  the  liberties  of  a  part  of  our  country.  Would 
you  go  next  week  ?  Would  you  go  to-morrow  ?  Would 
you  go  this  moment  ? '  And  one  hearty  '  Yes '  burst 
from  every  lip." 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

DELIVERED   BEFORE   THE   SOCIETY   OF  THE   ARMY  OF 
THE   POTOMAC,   AT   NEW   HAVEN,   MAY   14,   1873. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  COMRADES  OF  THE  ARMY 
OF  THE  POTOMAC,  —  When,  two  years  ago,  our 
distinguished  fellow-soldier,  Governor  Fairchild, 
suggested  that  it  would  be  well  to  place  upon  our 
records,  by  our  exercises  upon  these  occasions,  as 
full  an  account  as  we  could  gather  of  the  part 
which  our  army  took  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
—  a  suggestion  which  was  then  well  carried  out  by 
himself  and  afterwards  by  General  Woodford,  in 
the  eloquent  address  delivered  last  year  at  .Cleve 
land,  —  he  also  remarked  that  it  could  hardly  be 
done  consecutively ;  but  there  must  of  necessity 
be  intervals  in  the  regular  progress  of  the  narra 
tive.  Most  unwillingly  do  I  break  the  thread, 
and  recognize  that  one  of  those  occasions  has 
come.  One  theme  only  seems  appropriate  for  our 
meeting  to-day,  when  we  remember  that  of  the 
five  commanders  of  that  army  in  front  of  Wash 
ington  which  became  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
but  four  now  survive.  He  who  was  its  leader 
from  the  proud  day  of  Gettysburg  unto  the  yet 
prouder  day  when  its  great  rival,  the  Army  of 


28       ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

Northern  Virginia,  piled  up  its  arms  in  sad  and 
sullen  submission,  and  the  sword  of  its  leader  was 
laid  in  the  conquering  hand  of  Grant,  has  passed 
since  we  last  met  from  the  ranks  of  living  men. 
No  more  shall  we  see  that  slender  yet  not  un 
graceful  figure,  which  seemed  the  embodiment  of 
the  scholar,  the  soldier,  and  the  gentleman,  that 
of  late  years  has  risen  so  cordially  at  all  our 
gatherings  responsive  to  our  call,  as  in  the  times 
now  long  past  we  rose  to  his ;  no  more  recog 
nize  that  quick  and  spirited  glance ;  no  more  hear 
that  voice  whose  tones  have  summoned  to  high 
duties  and  great  enterprises  always,  and  never 
counselled  fear  or  dishonor. 

His  loss  has  been  mourned  as  a  public  one 
throughout  the  Union,  especially  in  the  city 
which  was  his  home  and  in  the  State  whose  hills 
shall  guard  his  fame  forever ;  but  whatever  may 
be  the  honors  paid  to  his  memory  elsewhere, 
there  is  no  place  —  the  sacred  circle  of  home 
alone  excepted  —  where  that  memory  can  be  held 
so  dear  as  among  those  who  with  him  have 
borne  the  weary  campaigns  and  the  long  marches, 
by  day  and  night,  alike  in  July's  heat  and  Decem 
ber's  cold  ;  have  seen  with  him  the  sad  hours 
of  disaster  and  defeat ;  and  have  known  with 
him  the  stern  joy  of  victory.  Honored  and  re 
spected  as  a  wise  and  brave  commander,  loved 
as  a  comrade,  always  considerate  and  true,  if  T 
dedicate  these  fleeting  moments  to  him,  however 
imperfect  my  tribute  may  be,  I  feel  convinced  I 


ORATION   ON   GENERAL   MEADE.  29 

shall  not  want  your  approval.  Nor  if  I  speak, 
as  I  must,  of  the  great  field  by  which  he  is  espe 
cially  endeared  to  his  countrymen,  shall  I  speak 
of  it  otherwise  than  as  it  stands  to-day  upon  the 
verdict  of  history,  now  that  its  record,  drawn 
from  the  reports  of  the  principal  commanders 
on  either  side,  is  fully  made  up,  and  the  victori 
ous  and  vanquished  chieftains  sleep  in  the  common 
repose  of  death.  Wounded  severely  at  Chancel- 
lorsville  a  few  weeks  previously,  in  its  dangers 
I  had  no  part ;  to  its  honor  I  can  lay  no  claim 
except  to  that  which  was  there  reflected  by  you 
upon  every  one  who  could  call  you  "  comrade." 
Yet  even  from  this  I  would  not  willingly  part, 
when  I  remember  that  as  the  glad  tidings  were 
flashed  towards  the  North,  each  one  of  your 
wounded  veterans  stood  more  proudly  on  his 
crutch ;  and  even  the  fever-stricken  patient  in 
the  hospital,  as  he  raised  himself  from  his  couch 
and  strove  with  parched  lips  to  join  in  the  ring 
ing  cheers,  murmured,  "  I  too  am  a  soldier  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac." 

Although  born  upon  foreign  soil,  yet  under 
the  flag  of  the  Union  and  in  its  citizenship, 
George  Gordon  Meade  graduated  at  West  Point 
in  1835,  and  was  then  brevetted  as  second  lieu 
tenant  of  artillery.  Resigning  in  1836,  he  passed 
the  intervening  years  until  1842  as  an  engineer 
in  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States,  when 
he  was  again  appointed  to  the  army  as  a  second 
lieutenant  of  the  Topographical  Engineers  ;  and 


SO       ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

in  the  discharge  of  the  pursuits  and  duties  of 
that  important  corps,  for  which  he  had  a  peculiar 
aptitude,  he  continued  until  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  with  Mexico.  During  this  he  served  _  at 
first  upon  the  staff  of  General  Taylor,  participat 
ing  in  all  the  hard-fought  fights  of  that  resolute 
soldier  until  his  line  of  approach  to  the  city  of 
Mexico  was  relinquished,  when  Meade  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  staff  of  General  Scott,  and  aided  in  the 
conduct  of  the  siege  operations  against  Vera  Cruz. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  resumed  with  renewed 
interest  the  scientific  duties  of  his  profession  until 
he  was  summoned  from  them  in  1861  by  the  call  to 
arms,  when  the  experiment  of  firing  the  Southern 
heart  by  the  attack  upon  Fort  Sumter  was  found 
to  have  been  successful,  not  in  that  only,  but  in 
fully  arousing  the  North  to  its  danger,  and  render 
ing  anything  like  peaceful  secession  impossible. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  General  Meade's 
early  education  as  a  soldier  had  been  in  every 
way  calculated  to  develop  his  great  natural 
powers.  Fully  acquainted  with  all  the  scientific 
branches  of  his  profession,  and  undoubtedly  from 
his  tastes  strongly  attracted  by  them,  he  had  not 
run  the  risk  of  becoming  a  mere  soldier  of  the 
book,  but  had  seen  the  great  actions  and  served 
with  the  great  captains  of  the  Mexican  War, 
each  of  whom  possessed  qualities  worthy  of  note 
and  study,  and  from  whom  he  may  have  learned 
some  lessons  of  that  care  in  preparation,  that 
vigor  in  execution,  that  calmness  in  difficulty. 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.       31 

which  he  was  afterwards  to  exhibit  on  a  far 
greater  field  of  warfare. 

Appointed  a  brigadier-general  of  volunteers 
in  August,  1861,  his  military  life  was  with  this 
army.  He  served  in  the  operations  in  front  of 
Washington  and  through  all  the  conflicts  of  the 
Peninsula  campaign  up  to  the  battle  of  Glendale. 
in  June,  1862,  where  he  was  severely  wounded, 
proving  himself  everywhere  a  zealous  and  com 
petent  officer,  as  vigorous  and  brilliant  in  attack 
as  he  was  calm  in  endurance  when  compelled  to 
stand  on  the  defensive.  Returning  to  the  field 
in  September,  1862,  he  was  at  once  assigned 
to  the  command  of  a  division,  with  which  he 
served  through  the  Maryland  campaign,  when 
Lee  was  driven  up  through  the  passes  of  the 
South  Mountain  Range  to  the  field  of  Antietam, 
and  at  Antietam,  after  the  gallant  Hooker  fell 
severely  wounded,  he  was  placed  in  temporary 
command  of  his  corps. 

After  Fredericksburg,  —  in  which  battle  he  con 
tinued  to  command  the  same  division,  and  where 
he  succeeded  in  breaking  the  right  of  Lee's  line 
and  threatening  formidably  his  communications 
with  Richmond,  although  forced  finally  to  re 
linquish  his  hold  for  lack  of  support, — General 
Meade  was  assigned  to  the  Fifth  Army  Corps,  he 
having  some  time  previously  been  made  rnajor- 
general  of  volunteers.  In  command  of  this  corps 
he  served  at  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  and 
remained  with  it  until  the  28th  of  June,  1863, 


32  ORATION   ON   GENERAL  MEADE. 

when  he  was  appointed  Commander-in-chief  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  that  army  wras 
moving  up  through  Maryland  to  encounter  Lee, 
—  an  encounter  which,  as  you  all  know,  resulted 
in  the  victory  of  Gettysburg. 

The  causes  which  led  to  that  bold  and  remark 
able  movement  on  the  part  of  the  Rebel  Govern 
ment —  the  invasion  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1863  — 
have  never  been,  so  far  as  I  know,  completely 
stated  by  it.  The  report  of  the  Rebel  commander- 
in-chief  clearly  indicates  that  when  it  was  written 
he  did  not  intend  to  develop  them.  He  says 
there  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  lay  along 
the  Rappahannock  in  such  a  position  that  it 
could  not  be  attacked  to  advantage ;  that  by 
moving  northward  through  the  great  valley  of 
Virginia,  a  fairer  opportunity  would  be  offered  to 
strike  ;  that  the  plans  of  the  enemy  for  the  sum 
mer  would  be  disarranged  and  time  consumed ; 
and  then  adds  that,  actuated  by  these  and  other 
important  considerations  that  he  may  hereafter 
present,  he  determined  upon  the  movement. 
Those  important  considerations  have  never  been 
divulged,  and  so  far  as  General  Lee  is  concerned, 
now  never  can  be  ;  yet  they  may  be  reasonably 
conjectured. 

Two  reasons  existed  which,  if  it  were  possible 
to  get  a  foothold  in  any  Northern  State,  rendered 
it  vital  that  it  should  be  done.  The  Confederate 
diplomatists  had  been  struggling  abroad  in  vain 
for  recognition  as  a  government.  They  saw  that 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.       33 

they  could  not  hope  to  obtain  this  as  long  as  the 
war  was  confined  to  the  limits  of  the  Southern 
States,  and  however  formidable  in  proportions, 
bore  always  the  aspect  of  a  mere  local  rebellion. 
Let  but  their  army  maintain  itself  on  Northern 
soil,  and  Mr.  Davis  believed  that  his  ambassadors 
could  obtain  recognition  from  some  foreign  States 
at  least,  and  with  it  all  the  advantages  of  a  posi 
tion  in  the  family  of  nations.  Then  there  was 
the  necessity  of  doing  something  to  sustain  the 
courage  of  the  Rebel  States  under  a  misfortune 
which  was  impending  over  them,  well  known  to 
Davis  and  Lee,  and  as  yet  little  appreciated 
generally  among  the  mass  of  their  people.  The 
sword  of  Grant  was  knocking  fiercely  at  the 
gates  of  Vicksburg ;  at  any  hour  it  might  burst 
them.  With  this,  Port  Hudson  must  fall  ;  and 
cutting  the  Confederacy  in  twain,  the  Mississippi 
would  be  open  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea. 
This  was  a  blow  which  could  neither  be  warded 
off  nor  parried,  —  it  must  descend  ;  and  there  was 
left  only  the  hope  of  dealing  another  in  return 
elsewhere  which  would  in  some  degree  diminish 
its  weight. 

No  sooner  were  the  designs  of  Lee  fully  un 
masked  by  his  movement  from  the  Shenandoah 
into  the  Cumberland  valley  than  General  Hooker, 
who  had  fallen  back  towards  Washington  in 
obedience  to  the  exigencies  of  the  problem  which 
pressed  upon  every  commander  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  —  the  necessity  of  covering  Wash- 

3 


34       ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

ington,  —  acted  with  his  usual  vigor.  Crossing 
the  Potomac  to  the  north  side,  himself,  on  the 
25th  of  June,  on  the  27th  he  had  concentrated 
his  forces  at  Frederick.  It  was  on  the  28th 
that  Lee  —  whose  cavalry  had  been  cut  off:  from 
him  by  the  rapidity  of  this  action,  and  who  had 
then  pushed  Ewell  forward  to  York  and  Carlisle, 
with  intent,  as  he  says,  to  cross  the  Susquehanna, 
and  was  himself  at  Chambersburg  with  Longstreet 
and  Hill  —  learned  at  the  same  time,  not  only  that 
Hooker  had  crossed  the  Potomac,  but  that  he  was 
actually  at  Frederick.  "  We  may  search  the  his 
tory  of  modern  campaigns  in  vain,"  says  Colonel 
Chesney,  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  British 
writers  on  our  war,  "  to  find  a  more  striking  exam 
ple  of  the  effect  produced  by  operating  on  the 
enemy's  communications  than  that  of  this  move 
ment  of  Hooker's.  The  first  sound  that  reached 
Lee  of  the  advance  of  the  Federal  columns  to  the 
north  of  the  river  caused  him  to  suspend  all 
action  in  any  direction  tending  to  draw  him 
farther  from  his  base."  He  resolved  at  once 
on  concentrating  his  forces  on  the  east  side  of 
South  Mountain,  and  preventing  Hooker's  farther 
march  westward ;  and  orders  for  this  purpose 
were  at  once  issued.  Before  these  facts  were 
known  to  Lee,  which  caused  him  thus  to  desist 
from  any  further  movement  forward,  the  change 
had  been  made  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
which  placed  General  Meade  in  command,  —  Gen 
eral  Hooker  being  relieved  at  his  own  request. 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.       35 

The  immediate  cause  of  this  request  was  the 
refusal  by  the  War  Department  to  place  at  his 
disposal  the  troops  at  Harper's  Ferry ;  and  with 
out  entering  into  the  discussion  of  this  matter 
here,  I  may  say  that  I  think  that  there  will  be 
found  few  to-day  to  defend  a  course  which,  when 
'the  air  was  black  with  the  gathering  clouds  of 
such  a  storm  as  burst  in  thunder  a  few  days 
later  over  Gettysburg,  would  have  left  out  of 
the  conflict  ten  thousand  efficient  troops,  under 
the  command  of  a  veteran  general  [French]. 

No  tribute  to  the  discipline  that  prevailed  in 
this  army  can  be  higher  than  that  which  is  paid 
by  saying  that  this  change  was  made  when  every 
one  knew  that  a  battle  was  impending,  without  in 
any  way  affecting  the  spirits  or  energy  of  the  troops. 
The  French  herald  who  in  the  same  breath  an 
nounced  the  death  of  one  king  and  the  accession 
of  another  by  the  words,  "  The  King  is  dead  ;  long 
live  the  King!"  was  never  received  with  more 
unquestioning  loyalty  than,  in  its  devotion  to  the 
cause  it  served  and  not  in  indifference  to  its  lead 
ers,  this  army  received  each  announcement  of  a 
change  of  commanders.  Faithful  and  devoted 
to  those  who  had  preceded,  it  prepared  to  render 
the  same  obedience  to  him  who  now  in  the  very 
imminence  of  a  mortal  struggle  found  its  heavy 
cares  and  responsibilities  thrown  upon  him.  The 
situation  was  one  which  might  cause  anxiety  to 
the  most  audacious,  for  the  loss  of  a  great  battle 
then  might  endanger  all  for  which  we  had  been 


36       ORATION  OX  GENERAL  MEADE. 

struggling ;  and  yet  a  great  battle  must  be  fought, 
to  relieve  the  Northern  States  from  the  invasion 
which  at  that  moment  seemed  to  threaten  most 
directly  the  splendid  city  of  Philadelphia.  If 
Meade  could  secure  the  immense  tactical  advan 
tage  of  compelling  the  enemy  to  attack  him,  that 
might  be  rendered  certain  which  without  it 
would  be  doubtful.  It  was  his  opinion  that  the 
infantry  of  Lee  must  surpass  his  own  by  about 
ten  thousand  men,  supposing  that  each  could 
bring  on  to  the  field  substantially  his  whole 
army.  If  any  lesson  had  been  clearly  taught 
already,  however,  —  and  every  day's  experience 
was  to  confirm  it,  —  it  was  that  in  a  country  like 
America,  with  the  rough  fieldworks  that  troops 
may  throw  up,  the  improvements  in  artillery  and 
musketry  are  so  much  for  the  benefit  of  the  party 
which  stands  on  the  defensive  that  a  force  decid 
edly  weaker  may  in  such  a  position  receive  the 
assaults  of  another  with  confidence.  Cool  as  he 
was  brave,  he  resolved  that  this  advantage  should 
be  secured  by  forcing  his  opponent  to  attack  him, 
if  possible.  Accepting  his  position,  in  an  order 
issued  early  in  the  morning  of  the  28th,  he 
nobly  summoned  his  troops  to  their  duties,  — 
nor  do  I  like  the  order  less  because  it  is  distinctly 
marked  with  the  manly,  healthy,  religious  feeling 
which  was  an  essential  element  in  his  character. 
"The  country,"  he  says,  "looks  to  this  army  to 
relieve  it  from  the  devastation  and  disgrace  of  a 
hostile  invasion.  Whatever  fatigues  and  sacrifices 


ORATION   ON   GENERAL  MEADE.  37 

we  may  be  called  upon  to  undergo,  let  us  have 
in  view  constantly  the  magnitude  of  the  interests 
involved ;  and  let  each  determine  to  do  his  duty, 
leaving  to  an  all-controlling  Providence  the  deci 
sion  of  the  contest." 

From  the  nature  of  the  case,  as  General  Meade 
states,  no  precise  plan  had  probably  been  formed 
by  General  Hooker,  or  could  be  by  himself, 
other  than  to  be  governed  by  the  exigencies  of 
the  situation.  Already  the  army  was  in  a  posi 
tion  which  threatened  Lee  formidably ;  but  the 
information  of  any  hour  might  make  a  change 
of  movements  necessary.  The  28th  was  spent  in 
getting  together  the  essential  information  as  to 
his  own  army,  its  various  forces,  and  position, 
as  well  as  in  ascertaining  all  that  was  then 
known  at  the  headquarters  in  reference  to  the 
enemy ;  and  on  the  29th,  instead  of  continu 
ing  to  move  westward,  which  was  perhaps 
the  apprehension  of  Lee,  fearful  always  as 
to  his  communications,  he  commenced  to  move 
northward,  to  compel  him  to  loose  his  hold  on 
the  Susquehanna.  From  this  river,  unknown 
to  him,  Lee  was  already  drawing  back.  Moving 
upon  the  29th  and  on  the  30th  in  a  manner 
which  would  enable  him  to  concentrate  his 
forces  upon  Pipe  Creek,  —  a  position  about  fif 
teen  miles  south  of  Gettysburg,  which  seemed 
to  afford  a  good  line,  alike  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  the  crossing  of  the  Susquehanna  and 
of  covering  Washington  and  Baltimore,  —  no 


38  ORATION   ON   GENERAL   MEADE. 

means  were  neglected  in  endeavoring  to  ascer 
tain  the  exact  whereabouts  of  the  enemy,  and 
also  of  the  places  where  it  would  be  suitable  to 
offer  him  battle.  General  Humphreys  was  di 
rected,  on  the  arrival  of  his  division  at  Emmetts- 
burg,  to  report  whether  the  ground  there  was 
favorable,  the  position  itself  being  evidently  an 
important  one.  On  the  30th.  Meade  was  in 
formed  by  Buford,  who  covered,  with  his  cavalry, 
the  left  of  our  army,  of  the  presence  of  the 
enemy  near  Gettysburg,  whither  Reynolds,  with 
the  First  and  Eleventh  Corps,  had  already  been 
ordered  to  proceed.  While  the  orders  of  the 
30th  thus  directed  Reynolds,  those  to  the  other 
corps  contemplated  evidently  taking  up  the  line 
of  Pipe  Creek,  in  doing  which  they  would  be 
shielded  and  masked  by  Reynolds  on  their  left 
front.  Reynolds  was  also  instructed,  as  General 
Humphreys  states  in  his  beautiful  address  upon 
General  Meade,  lately  delivered  in  Philadelphia, 
to  report  whether  Gettysburg  itself  afforded 
ground  suitable  for  a  battle.  All  the  orders  indi 
cate  that  every  movement  was  liable  to  be  changed 
by  the  development  of  events  ;  and  showing  the 
great  skill  which  Meade  possessed  as  a  tactician 
on  a  large  scale,  they  demonstrate  his  ability 
to  handle  an  army  in  a  series  of  manoeuvres  of 
the  greatest  importance.  He  was  fully  entitled 
to  the  praise  bestowed  by  Swinton,  the  able 
critic  of  the  operations  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  who  says  that  in  "  spite  of  the  malicious 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.      39 

detraction  of  his  adversaries,  who  have  tried 
to  make  it  appear  that  lie  shrank  from  the 
issue  of  arms  at  Gettysburg,  it  was  in  reality 
the  moral  firmness  of  General  Meade  that  deter 
mined  the  combat  in  the  form  in  which  it  actually 
occurred." 

On  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  July,  the  first 
encounter  took  place  ;  and  although  to  the  north 
and  west  of  Gettysburg,  it  is  still  to  be  consid 
ered  a  part,  and  an  essential  part,  of  the  battle. 
It  was  a  day  beginning  successfully,  but  so  far 
as  the  loss  of  troops  was  concerned,  ending  seri 
ously,  and  yet  a  conflict  of  inestimable  value ; 
for  although  forced  from  the  ground  we  at  first 
occupied,  at  its  close  we  held  the  position  to  the 
south  of  Gettysburg  on  the  crest  to  be  thence 
forth  forever  renowned  in  the  American  annals. 
Hill's  corps  had  moved  from  Chambersburg 
through  Cashtown,  and  on  that  morning  was 
encountered  by  Buford  upon  that  road  which  is 
to  the  west  from  Gettysburg  beyond  Seminary 
Ridge,  which  on  the  next  day  became  the  most 
important  part  of  the  army's  line.  Meeting 
them  at  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he 
held  them  most  gallantly  in  check  until  the 
arrival  of  Reynolds  with  Wadsworth's  divi 
sion,  who  immediately  prepared  to  engage,  send 
ing  back  for  the  rest  of  his  corps  and  for  the 
Eleventh  to  hurry  forward.  To  sustain  Buford 
was  undoubtedly  his  most  pressing  need  at  the 
moment,  as  the  delay  of  the  enemy  was  of  im- 


40  ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

portance,  that  Meade  might  be  aided  in  the  con 
centration  of  his  forces ;  but  with  the  knowledge 
Reynolds  had  of  the  anxiety  of  the  commanding 
general,  who  was  then  ignorant  of  the  peculiar  fa 
cilities  afforded  by  the  ground  at  Gettysburg,  it  is 
not  likely  that  he  passed  over  the  Emmettsburg 
road  without  taking  in  all  the  advantage  to  be 
obtained  by  the  possession  of  the  crest,  or  antici 
pating  that  if  forced  back  upon  it,  he  could  cling 
to  it  until  he  was  sustained  by  the  whole  army. 
Arranging  his  troops,  forming  his  lines,  with  his 
customary  rapidity  and  energy,  he  advanced  at 
once  on  the  force  opposed  to  him,  which  already 
largely  outnumbered  his  own ;  but  hardly  was 
the  movement  commenced,  when  he  fell,  mortally 
wounded.  Brave  men  were  to  die  by  thousands 
on  that  terrible  field ;  yet  no  one  could  fall  whose 
loss  was  more  seriously  felt  and  more  deeply 
deplored.  Not  the  men  of  the  First  Corps  only, 
whom  he  had  long  led,  but  the  whole  army, 
knew  him  as  a  soldier  in  whose  bravery  and  skill 
the  most  implicit  confidence  might  be  placed. 
The  senior  of  Meade  in  military  rank,  no  jealous 
thought  at  his  promotion  to  the  command  of  the 
army  ever  entered  that  loyal  heart.  Modest 
and  simple  in  manner,  with  no  trace  of  affecta 
tion  or  boasting,  reliable  as  steel,  a  true  soldier, 
he  died  a  soldier's  death,  grandly  contributing  to 
the  triumph  he  was  never  to  share.  Yet  where 
could  man  meet  better  the  inevitable  hour 
than  in  defence  of  his  native  State,  his  life-blood 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.       41 

mingling  with  the  soil  on  which  he  first  drew 
breath  ?  Long  may  the  statue  which  the  love  and 
honor  of  his  comrades  of  the  First  Corps  have 
reared  to  him  on  the  field  stand,  in  glorious 
though  mute  resemblance  to  him,  as  he  stood  that 
day,  watching  with  eager  gaze  and  dauntless 
heart  the  advance  of  the  coming  foe. 

His  troops  did  not  lose  the  impulse  he  had 
given  them,  even  at  his  fall :  gallantly  holding 
the  enemy  at  bay,  many  prisoners  were  taken  ; 
and  for  an  hour  or  two  all  went  well.  Sub 
stantially  the  remainder  of  the  First  Corps  and 
two  divisions  of  the  Eleventh  Corps  arrived 
with  General  Howard,  who  took  command  on 
the  field ;  but  soon  the  advance  of  Swell's  troops, 
who  now  approached  from  the  north  on  their 
way  from  Carlisle  and  York  to  Lee's  proposed 
concentration  at  Gettysburg,  seemed  to  render 
necessary  an  extension  of  our  line  round  to  the 
north  of  the  town,  by  which  it  was  weakened 
seriously.  Outnumbered  now  at  all  points,  the 
day  was  fairly  turned  against  us ;  and  Howard 
was  forced  back  through  the  town  to  the 
heights  where  the  battle  was  finally  fought. 
Nor  could  he  effect  this  withdrawal  except  at 
the  expense  of  a  severe  loss  in  prisoners,  which 
fell  more  heavily  upon  the  Eleventh  Corps,  which 
had  been  exposed  to  the  assaults  of  the  columns 
coming  from  the  north.  Although  the  number 
of  divisions  engaged  was  about  equal,  it  must 
be  observed  that  at  this  time  each  division  and 


42       ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

corps  of  the  enemy  was  more  than  double  the 
size  of  one  of  ours.  Luckily,  or  rather  prudently, 
General  Howard  had  left  in  position  on  Cemetery 
Hill,  as  he  advanced,  one  of  his  own  divisions  — 
Yon  Steinwehr's  —  which  had  not  been  engaged. 
General  Hancock  now  arrived  with  an  order 
from  Meade  to  take  command  on  the  field, 
but  without  troops  ;  the  confusion  of  the  with 
drawal  was  subdued ;  and  the  men,  nndiscour- 
aged  by  the  reverse,  prepared  to  receive  the 
assault  of  the  enemy  and  maintain  their  position 
until  after  nightfall.  A  demonstration  was  in 
fact  made,  but  not  with  the  usual  vigor  of 
the  enemy,  and  was  without  difficulty  repulsed. 
To  Meade,  Hancock  immediately  sent  word  that 
the  ground  was  favorable,  and  that  it  could  be 
held  until  after  nightfall.  The  Twelfth  Corps, 
in  response  to  the  summons  of  General  How 
ard,  sent  earlier  in  the  day,  had  now  reached 
the  field,  —  one  brigade  of  the  First,  which  had 
been  delayed,  and  two  of  the  Third  arriving 
soon  after ;  and  General  Hancock,  surrendering 
the  command  to  General  Slocum,  reported  in 
person  to  General  Meade,  who,  he  found,  had 
already  issued  orders  to  all  his  army  to  move 
as  rapidly  as  possible  to  Gettysburg,  and  was 
himself  preparing  to  go  thither  at  once,  and  was 
waiting  only  to  hear  from  the  Sixth  Corps,  which 
could  not  reach  there  until  after  the  middle  of 
the  next  day,  as  it  was  more  than  thirty  miles 
away.  That  summer  night  witnessed  a  scene 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.  43 

in  Pennsylvania  such  as  I  trust  its  hills  may 
never  behold  again,  as  the  whole  army  —  the 
artillery  by  every  road,  and  the  infantry  by  every 
path  —  were  moving  to  the  conflict ;  but  early  in 
the  day  everything  was  ready  except  the  Sixth 
Corps,  and  for  it  they  were  strong  enough  to 
wait.  The  guns  were  in  position,  and  some 
slight  breastworks  of  earth  and  rails  had  been 
hastily  thrown  up.  Meade  himself  had  reached 
the  ground  soon  after  midnight,  and  directed 
the  arrangement  of  his  troops ;  that  his  tacti 
cal  dispositions  for  the  coming  battle  were  of  as 
excellent  an  order  as  his  materials  allowed,  has 
not  been  questioned,  that  I  am  aware  of,  by  any 
one.  One  of  his  directions  on  arriving  was 
that  proper  examination  should  be  made  of  all 
the  roads  leading  from  Gettysburg.  This  order, 
which  proceeded  only  from  the  caution  of  a  pru 
dent  commander  desirous  to  be  prepared  for  any 
event,  however  unfortunate,  afterwards  gave  occa 
sion  to  a  charge  against  him  that  he  intended 
to  withdraw  without  fighting,  —  a  charge  that 
he  always  felt  to  be  cruelly  unjust.  In  his  tes 
timony  before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of 
the  War,  he  emphatically  denied  it  in  terms  of 
such  solemnity  that  now,  when  he  stands  before 
the  tribunal  to  which  he  then  appealed,  it  is  but 
just  that  it  should  be  repeated  here.  "  I  utterly 
deny,"  said  he,  "  under  the  full  solemnity  and 
sanctity  of  my  oath,  and  in  the  firm  conviction 
that  the  day  will  come  when  the  secrets  of  all 


44  '  ORATION   ON    GENERAL   MEADE. 

men  shall  be  made  known,  —  I  utterly  deny  ever 
having  intended  or  thought  for  one  instant  to 
withdraw  that  army,  unless  the  military  contin 
gencies  which  the  future  should  develop  during 
the  course  of  the  day  might  render  it  a  matter  of 
necessity  that  it  should  be  withdrawn." 

The  morning  of  the  2d  of  July  wore  away 
without  anything  decisive,  —  our  own  army  on 
the  crest  which  stretched  from  Gulp's  Hill 
along  Cemetery  Hill  and  Ridge  to  Round  Top ; 
while  the  enemy,  with  Longstreet's  and  Hill's 
corps,  occupied  Seminary  Hill,  a  ridge  about  a 
mile  distant,  overlapping  our  left  and  extending 
round  to  our  right  with  Swell's  corps.  Early 
in  the  afternoon,  stout  John  Sedgwick,  with  the 
Sixth  Corps,  was  up,  after  a  long  march  of 
thirty-six  miles ;  and  the  Federal  Army  stood 
ready  to  receive  the  blow  which  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  must  deliver,  or  lose  the  pres 
tige  it  boasted,  and  acknowledge  the  invasion  a 
failure.  Whether  it  was  wise  in  Lee  to  make  the 
attack  has  been  doubted  ;  but  he  himself  felt 
that  it  was  forced  upon  him,  and  says  in  his 
report  that  "  while  he  had  not  intended  to  fight 
a  general  battle  so  far  from  his  base  unless 
attacked,  yet  finding  himself  confronted  unex 
pectedly  by  the  Federal  Army,  the  battle  became 
in  some  measure  unavoidable  by  him." 

The  exact  numbers  engaged  remain  to-day  in 
dispute ;  yet  they  were  undoubtedly  as  nearly 
equal  as  can  ever  be  expected  in  a  conflict  of 


ORATION   OX   GENERAL   MEADE.  45 

such  magnitude.  That  theirs  exceeded  ours  seems 
to  be  the  more  general  estimate,  and  by  about  ten 
thousand  ;  although  I  observe  General  Humphreys, 
in  the  address  to  which  I  have  referred,  places 
their  infantry  as  exceeding  ours  by  fifteen  thou 
sand  men. 

It  was  three  or  four  o'clock  when  the  compara 
tive  silence  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  day  was 
broken  by  the  attack  upon  our  left,  which  was 
held  by  the  Third  Corps  under  General  Sickles. 
Instead  of  extending  directly  from  the  left  of 
the  Second  Corps,  which  was  our  left  centre,  to 
Round  Top,  he  had  thrown  his  line  forward  to 
attain  a  position  which  he  deemed  more  command 
ing  upon  the  Emmettsburg  road.  While  a  strong 
attack  was  made  upon  his  left  and  upon  the  angle 
where  his  line  receded  towards  Round  Top,  a  flank 
ing  force  was  despatched  to  carry  Little  Round  Top, 
which  the  Rebel  commander  rightly  judged  to  be 
the  key  of  the  whole  position.  Before  it  reached 
it,  however,  reinforcements  had  already  arrived 
from  the  Fifth  Corps  ;  and  the  struggle  for  its 
possession  became  at  once  most  furious.  No 
where  during  the  engagement  was  more  deter 
mination  shown.  Each  regiment,  as  it  came  up, 
realized  that  the  point  was  vital,  —  that  to  lose 
it,  was  to  lose  the  day,  — and  fought  accordingly. 
Fiercely  striven  for,  manfully  held,  nightfall  saw 
it  and  the  whole  crest  from  it  to  Gulp's  Hill  in 
our  possession.  The  Third  Corps  had  indeed 
been  forced  from  its  more  advanced  position  on 


46        ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

the  Emmettsburg  road ;  for  after  a  stubborn  re 
sistance,  in  which  General  Sickles  was  severely 
wounded,  and*a  heavy  loss  in  men,  it  had  fallen 
back  to  the  line  from  Hancock's  left  to  Round 
Top,  which  General  Meade  always  considered  the 
true  line. 

The  most  anxious  hours  of  the  whole  battle 
wrere  those  in  which  the  possession  of  Round  Top 
and  the  line  on  the  Emmettsburg  road  were  thus 
fiercely  debated.  In  this  conflict  the  Third  Corps 
was  assisted  by  reinforcements  from  nearly 
every  other  ;  and  the  day  was  at  last  brilliantly 
closed  by  a  charge  from  General  Crawford's 
division,  supported  by  the  advance  of  the  Sixth 
Corps,  which  drove  the  enemy  finally  from  too 
close  proximity  to  Round  Top.  On  our  right  an 
advantage  had  been  gained  by  Ewell,  who  had 
secured  a  position  within  our  lines,  weakened,  as 
they  had  been,  by  the  reinforcements  sent  to  the 
left  of  the  line  ;  but  of  this  it  was  clear  to  Gen 
eral  Meade  that  he  would  be  easily  dispossessed 
in  the  morning. 

Night  descended  at  last ;  and  each  army, 
anxious  but  determined,  waited  for  the  coining 
day,  which  must  decide  the  momentous  issue. 
For  Lee  to  desist  in  his  attack  was  to  confess 
defeat,  while  yet,  as  he  says,  "  he  believed  ulti 
mate  success  might  be  secured  ;  "  and  although 
he  knew  well  that  the  position  from  which  the 
Third  Corps  had  been  forced  was  an  advantage 
rather  apparent  than  real,  yet  he  knew  also  that 


ORATION   ON    GENERAL   MEADE.  47 

it  had  inspirited  his  troops  to  a  belief  that  the 
task  before  them  was  not  beyond  their  powers. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  our  army,  while  all  felt 
that  the  hour  for  exultation  had  not  come,  every 
thing  seemed  to  indicate,  in  spite  of  the  loss  of 
the  position  on  the  Einmettsburg  road,  that  the 
true  line  of  defence  was  untouched  ;  and  that  the 
same  determination  on  the  day  which  was  to 
come  as  on  that  which  was  passed,  would  insure 
the  victory.  To  the  rule  that  councils  of  war 
never  fight,  which  has  become  a  proverb,  the 
council  of  war  held  this  night  is  an  exception  ; 
for  it  was  there  agreed  that  to  fight  was  the  only 
thing  to  be  done. 

Unwilling  to  abandon  the  scheme  of  an  inva 
sion,  and  confiding  in  the  spirit  of  his  troops, 
Lee  decided  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  July  to 
try  again  the  fortune  of  an  attack.  While  not 
materially  changing  his  position,  which,  as  be 
fore,  swept  round  from  Seminary  Ridge,  —  relin 
quishing  any  attempt  to  carry  Round  Top,  now 
securely  held  and  rudely  but  strongly  fortified, 
—  his  plan  was  an  assault  by  main  force  upon 
our  left  centre,  \vhich  should  carry  all  before 
it.  Nor  was  this  unexpected  by  Meade,  who, 
in  a  conversation  with  Gibbon  on  the  evening 
of  the  2d  of  July,  had  predicted  that  after  his 
ill  success  on  our  flanks  the  next  movement  of 
Lee  would  be  on  our  centre.  Any  project  of  a 
movement  in  force  upon  our  right  was  aban 
doned  also,  if  entertained.  The  driving  out  of 


48  ORATION  ON   GENERAL  MEADE. 

Swell's  force  in  the  morning  from  the  more 
forward  position  it  had  held  the  evening  be 
fore  had  deprived  him  of  his  foothold  there, 
which  it  would  cost  a  desperate  struggle  again 
to  obtain. 

It  was  one  o'clock  on  the  3d  of  July  when 
all  was  ready  within  the  Confederate  lines  for 
that  celebrated  assault  which  ranks  among  the 
most  remarkable  in  history,  alike  for  the  fierce 
ness  with  which  it  was  made  and  the  resolution 
and  persistency  with  which  it  was  met  and  foiled. 
It  has  been  compared  to  the  charge  of  the  Old 
Guard  at  Waterloo,  but  not,  I  think,  very  hap 
pily,  for  that  was  but  a  desperate  effort  to  save 
a  battle  already  lost.  It  far  more  resembles 
the  renowned  charge  at  Wagram,  directed  by 
Napoleon  himself,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame 
and  the  full  splendor  of  his  great  military  intel 
lect.  Aspern  and  Essling  had  been  doubtful,  or 
indeed,  defeats  for  the  Emperor ;  and  the  fate  of 
the  day  at  Wagram  was  trembling  in  the  scale, 
when,  concentrating  the  fire  of  one  hundred  guns 
upon  the  Austrian  centre  after  a  furious  can 
nonade,  he  launched  Macdonald,  with  ten  thousand 
men,  upon  it.  It  was  observed  that  although  the 
Empire  had  long  since  come,  Macdonald,  who  led 
the  column  in  person,  as  if  to  inflame  his  men 
with  all  the  fire  of  the  French  Revolution,  wore 
that  day  his  old  uniform  of  a  Republican  general. 
Bursting  upon  the  Austrian  line,  it  was  broken ; 
and  instant  retreat  followed.  But  Gettysburg  was 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.       49 

to  see  repeated  that  favorite  movement  of  Napoleon 
of  striking  at  the  centre,  on  an  even  more  gigantic 
scale,  yet  not  with  like  success.  As  the  wave 
which  beats  upon  the  rocky  barriers  of  our  coast 
is  dashed  back  again  in  clouds  of  scattering,  dis 
solving  spray,  so  this  fierce  and  bloody  wave 
of  rebellion  was  to  be  hurled  back,  broken,  scat 
tered,  and  in  wild  disorder,  when  it  struck  the 
adamantine  wall  of  the  infantry  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac. 

Concentrating  an  immense  mass  of  artillery,  not 
less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  guns,  along  his 
front,  the  Confederate  commander  strives  first  to 
shake  the  morale  of  the  Federal  troops,  whose 
firmness  and  courage  he  clearly  does  not  despise, 
in  order  that  his  infantry  columns  may  more 
readily  do  the  decisive  work  he  has  in  store  for 
them.  From  eighty  guns  posted  upon  Cemetery 
Hill  and  Ridge,  our  batteries  make  stern  reply  ; 
and  an  artillery  conflict  of  unexampled  fury- 
rages  from  ridge  to  ridge  and  over  the  valley 
of  death  that  lies  between.  Sheltering  themselves 
as  well  as  they  can,  by  such  rude  breastworks  as 
they  have,  from  the  terrific  storm  of  shot  and 
shell  which  fills  the  air,  and  with  its  tumult  could 
wake  the  very  dead  among  whom  their  lines  are 
drawn,  were  they  sensible  to  mortal  sounds,  our 
troops  await  the  momentous  struggle  which  is 
coming ;  for  the  mighty  roar  is  but  the  overture 
and  prelude  to  a  mightier  drama.  For  two  hours 
the  tempest  continues.  Hunt,  our  prudent  Chief 


50       ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

of  Artillery,  towards  the  end  slackens  his  fire, 
that  the  ammunition  may  not  fail  (when  the 
infantry  attempt  to  close,  he  knows  he  shall  need 
it  all),  and  his  wisdom  is  well  rewarded  after 
wards.  Hancock,  who  commands  the  left  centre, 
his  own  corps  being  immediately  under  Gibbon, 
knows  that  somewhere  on  him  the  storm  is  to 
break,  and  rides  along  his  whole  line,  seeing  that 
all  is  prepared,  and  rousing  his  men  by  his  ardent 
words  and  magnetic  presence  to  the  hot  work 
that  is  before  them. 

And  now  there  is  a  momentary  lull  in  the 
fire  of  the  Confederate  line.  All  know  it  as 
the  lull  which  precedes  the  wildest  roar  of  the 
tempest ;  and  that  for  a  few  moments  their  bat 
teries  cannot  fire,  because  their  infantry  are 
moving.  Out  of  the  wooded  crests  which  have 
shielded  them  on  Seminary  Ridge  they  are  com 
ing,  now  in  number  nearly  or  quite  eighteen 
thousand  men.  From  the  edge  of  the  wood 
Longstreet  directs  the  assault ;  and  anxiousty 
Lee  watches  the  result.  Pickett's  division,  about 
five  or  six  thousand  strong,  is  the  directing  force. 
Upon  the  right  it  is  supported  by  Wilcox  and 
Perry,  from  Hill's  corps.  Upon  the  left  Heth's 
division  of  Hill's  corps,  commanded  by  Pettigrew, 
forms  a  portion  of  the  assaulting  lines,  and  is 
strengthened  by  two  brigades  from  Pender's 
division,  of  the  same  corps.  On  Pickett,  how 
ever,  the  greatest  reliance  is 'placed.  Let  him  but 
reach  our  line  with  adequate  momentum,  and 


ORATION  ON   GENERAL   MEADE.  51 

f 

they  feel  that  the  day  is  theirs.  The  men  of  this 
division  have  not  yet  fought  in  the  battle,  and 
feel  that  they  have  been  kept  for  its  very  crisis ; 
they  are  resolved  upon  their  work,  for  they  know 
that  the  eyes  of  both  armies  are  upon  them. 
Virginians  all,  —  alas,  that  the  State  so  honored 
in  the  Union  as  to  be  termed  the  mother  of 
its  Presidents  should  send  forth  so  gallant  a  body 
of  her  sons  in  the  mad  and  wicked  effort  to 
destroy  it !  Conspicuous  in  the  front,  as  they 
move  into  the  more  open  ground,  is  Pickett 
himself,  carefully  forming  his  lines ;  and  almost 
immediately  they  come  under  the  fire  of  our 
batteries;  yet  steadily  they  move  through  the 
valley  with  a  courage  that  in  a  good  cause 
should  command  the  admiration  of  the  world. 
There  is  no  rushing  or  tumult  ;  for  they  are  old 
troops  and  know  well  the  value  of  discipline,  and 
that  they  must  keep  their  formations  or  they  will 
be  driven,  as  a  mob  would  be  driven,  from  the 
front  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  They  close  up 
their  ranks  too,  as  the  shot  and  spherical  case 
come  plunging  through  their  lines,  for  they  have 
often  looked  before  upon  the  sight  of  blood. 
The  lines  of  Pettigrew,  more  exposed  by  the 
open  character  of  the  ground,  waver  soon  under 
the  terrific  cannonade,  —  for  Hunt,  economical 
a  little  while  ago,  is  liberal  enough  everywhere 
now,  —  and  are  broken  on  their  left,  while  the 
right  still  clings  firmly  to  the  directing  force. 
The  supporting  columns  fail  to  advance  in  season 


52  ORATION   ON   GENERAL   MEADE. 

and  with  vigor ;  and  Pickett's  division  must 
do  the  work  finally  almost  alone,  if  it  may. 
Already  it  is  within  the  musketry  fire  of  our 
troops  ;  but  yet  they  withhold  it.  Many  of  our 
guns  have  now  exhausted  their  canister,  and  are 
drawn  back  to  await  the  struggle  of  the  in 
fantry  ;  but  still  the  stout  army  lets  its  op 
ponents  come.  The  Second  Vermont  Brigade, 
First  Corps,  thrown  forward  upon  its  flank,  is 
the  first  to  open ;  but  the  column  still  presses  on. 
It  encounters  now  the  Second  Corps ;  and  as 
it  receives  a  terrific  fire  from  the  divisions  of 
Gibbon  and  Hays,  it  returns  it  with  desperate 
energy,  and  rushing  fiercely  onward,  strikes 
with  its  fullest  force  upon  the  front  of  Webb's 
brigade,  pressing  back  our  line  from  the  stone 
wall  which  had  covered  it  to  the  crest  imme 
diately  behind,  where  the  gallant  Webb,  assisted 
by  Hall,  soon  restores  order.  Already  their 
battle-flags  are  on  the  low  stone  wall  ;  already 
Armistead,  who  leads,  as  he  stands  upon  it 
waves  his  troops  forward  to  their  last  great 
struggle.  The  hour  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
has  come.  Up  now,  men  of  New  England,  and 
show  yourselves  in  the  field  the  same  stout 
defenders  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  that 
your  statesmen  have  ever  done  in  the  forum ! 
Up,  men  of  the  Middle  States,  upon  whose  soil 
this  unholy  attempt  to  strike  at  the  keystone  of 
the  arch  is  made !  Up,  men  of  the  West,  whose 
fortunes  have  so  long  been  cast  with  this  East- 


ORATION   ON   GENERAL  MEADE.  53 

ern  army,  that  you  may  bear  back  beyond  the 
mountains  the  tidings  of  the  great  victory  won 
to-day  on  the  Atlantic  slope !  Up,  true  men  of 
the  South,  few  though  you  are  in  numbers,  who 
fight  in  our  ranks  to-day !  There  is  no  need 
for  any  one  to  echo  the  order  of  the  Duke  at 
Waterloo,  to  call  or  command,  for  now  the  left 
centre,  as  if  by  a  common  impulse  and  instinct, 
throws  itself  upon  the  foe.  The  point  penetrated 
by  the  enemy  is  covered  by  some  regiments ; 
while  others  change  their  front  so  as  to  strike 
them  on  the  flank.  There  is  confusion  :  organiza 
tion  is  to  some  extent  lost  in  both  brigades  and 
regiments ;  but  all  understand  what  is  to  be  done, 
and  are  resolute.  It  is  the  stern  confusion  of  the 
onset,  and  not  the  wretched  tumult  of  disaster. 
As  the  long  wave  of  fire  bursts  upon  their  charg 
ing  lines,  the  colors  of  our  regiments  are  advanced 
to  meet  the  battle-flags  of  the  foe.  Firmly  on  our 
men  come,  —  officers  animating  by  their  example 
at  least,  when  they  cannot  direct  by  their  com 
mands  ;  for  we  stand  no  longer  on  the  defensive, 
but  take  the  offensive  now.  Before  that  deter 
mined  front  and  concentrated  fire,  their  men  did 
all  that  brave  though  erring  and  misguided  men 
could  do.  Killed  or  mortally  wounded,  their  briga 
diers  fall ;  their  lines  waver,  yield,  and  break  at 
last ;  and  while  a  few  wild,  disorganized  masses 
struggle  to  reach  the  Confederate  line,  from  which 
they  issued  so  proudly  an  hour  before,  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  gathers  up  the  prisoners  by  thou- 


54  ORATION   ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

sands,  and  their  battle-flags  in  sheaves,  and  knows 
that  Gettysburg  is  won. 

General  Meade,  who  was  at  the  right  getting 
his  reserves  in  order  when  the  assault  com 
menced,  reached  the  left  centre  just  as  the  repulse 
was  fairly  completed,  and  speaking  to  General 
Gibbon's  aide,  asked,  "  How  is  it  going  here  ? " 
He  was  told  that  the  assault  was  repulsed.  He 
repeated,  "  Is  it  entirely  repulsed  ?  "  and  when  the 
aide  replied  that  it  was,  and  all  around  broke 
into  loud  cheers,  he  raised  his  hat  with  a  simple 
"  Thank  God ! "  Nor  with  him  was  this  the 
mere  repetition  of  a  phrase  of  custom,  but  an 
expression  of  deep  and  heartfelt  feeling.  Al 
though  thousands  in  a  grateful  country  attested, 
by  solemn  thanksgiving,  their  gratitude  for  this 
great  triumph,  —  worthy  to  be  ranked  with  what 
Oliver  Cromwell  termed  the  battle  of  Worcester, 
"  the  crowning  mercy  of  the  Lord,"  —  I  question 
if  from  one  it  came  with  more  deep  emotion  than 
from  the  lips  of  the  commander-in-chief  upon 
the  field  itself.  "A  soldier,"  says  Corporal  Trim, 
in  Sterne's  fine  story,  —  "a  soldier,  an't  please 
your  Rev'rence,  must  say  his  prayers  when  and 
where  he  can." 

It  has  been  contended  that  we  should  now  have 
attacked  in  our  turn  ;  but  such  a  movement,  even 
if  successful,  might  of  course  become  seriously 
compromising  ;  and  it  was  not  in  the  character  of 
General  Meade  to  put  at  risk  that  which  he  had 
already  gained,  when  it  was  of  such  vast  value  and 


ORATION   ON   GENERAL  MEADE.  55 

importance.  The  battle  had  been  fought  for  the 
key  of  the  country,  where  he  stood,  and  fought 
out  thoroughly ;  it  was  his  beyond  doubt  or 
perad venture,  —  no  earthly  power  could  wrest  it 
from  him.  The  invasion  was  at  an  end ;  and  Lee 
would  be  compelled  to  abandon  the  territory  into 
which  he  had  entered.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten 
that  while  the  losses  of  the  enemy  were  greater 
far,  ours  were  yet  enormous  ;  for  tested  in  the 
merest  material  way  and  without  regard  to  the 
consequences  involved,  Gettysburg  is  one  of  the 
great  battles  of  the  world.  The  Confederate  loss 
was  eighteen  thousand  killed  and  wounded,  and 
13,600  missing,  —  nearly  the  whole  of  the  lat 
ter  being  our  prisoners,  —  making  a  total  of 
31,600  ;  our  own  was  16,500  killed  and  wounded, 
and  6,600  missing,  —  to  a  large  extent  the 
prisoners  of  the  first  day,  —  making  a  total  loss 
of  23,100. 

It  was  the  5th  of  July  when  Lee  commenced 
his  retreat ;  and  as  he  reached  the  Potomac, 
which  he  had  crossed  in  such  high  hope,  he 
learned  by  a  message  from  Davis  that  the  blow 
upon  Vicksburg,  of  which  he  had  hoped  to  break 
the  weight,  had  fallen,  and  that  the  Mississippi 
was  open  to  the  sea.  Whether  or  not  he  could 
have  been  attacked  to  advantage  before  he 
crossed,  is  yet  an  open  question,  which  I  shall 
not  undertake  here  to  discuss. 

I  would  not  willingly  do  injustice  to  the  other 
great  fields  of  the  war  and  their  splendid  results  ; 


56       ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

and  yet  it  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  Gettys 
burg  was  the  culminating  point  of  the  Rebellion  ; 
and  that  the  blow  struck  that  day  for  the  Union, 
accompanying  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  turned  for 
ever  its  bloody  tide.  Large,  varied,  and  constant 
as  were  the  services  rendered  by  General  Meade 
before  that  day  and  after  it  to  the  very  end  of 
the  war,  it  is  by  his  judgment  in  so  manoeu 
vring  his  army  as  to  compel  the  Confederate 
commander  to  take  the  initiative,  by  his  energy 
in  bringing  his  troops  to  this  decisive  field,  by  his 
skill  in  posting  his  force  and  arranging  his  order 
of  battle,  by  his  calmness,  courage,  and  persistency 
in  all  its  vicissitudes,  that  he  will  ever  be  most 
gratefully  remembered.  His  fame  is  built  upon 
the  rocks,  and  is  as  immovable  as  the  hills  of 
Gettysburg.  Great  fields  were  yet  to  be  fought, 
great  sacrifices  endured,  great  victories  won  ;  the 
leader,  wise  of  head  and  stout  of  heart,  who 
should  gather  the  springs  which  moved  all  our 
armies  into  a  single  hand,  and  control  them  with  a 
single  will,  was  yet  to  come  before  the  long-tried 
Army  of  the  Potomac  should  see  all  that  it  fought 
for  fully  secured.  Yet  although  all  this  was 
still  to  be,  and  although  the  waves  of  the  Rebel 
lion  were  to  come  again  and  yet  again,  never 
was  its  bloody  crest  to  be  reared  so  high  as 
at  Gettysburg. 

To  do  justice  to  all  the  valor  and  heroism  of 
that  day,  and  all  its  momentous  consequences,  is 
a  task  beyond  the  reach  of  language ;  yet  so  far 


ORATION  ON   GENERAL   MEADE.  57 

as  words  may  do  it,  it  has  been  already  done. 
The  monuments  which  the  intellect  can  rear  out 
last  the  stateliest  that  hands  can  raise.  The 
columns  which  the  States  of  Greece  reared  to 
the  dead  of  Thermopylae  crumbled  to  the  dust 
hundreds  of  •  years  ago;  but  the  noble  ode  by 
which  Simonides  commemorated  them  is  taught 
to-day  in  the  schools  of  this  University,  beneath 
the  budding  branches  of  whose  elms  we  stand, 
in  a  world  undreamed  of  then.  Athens  is  in 
ruin  ;  conqueror  after  conqueror  has  pressed  his 
rude  heel  upon  her  ;  but  the  noble  oration  by 
which  Pericles  celebrated  the  Athenian  dead  is 
fresh  in  immortal  youth.  And  as  long  as  the 
Union  shall  stand,  will  the  simple,  majestic  me 
morial  by  which,  with  words  fresh  from  his  true 
and  honest  heart,  Abraham  Lincoln  commemo 
rated  the  great  deed  done  that  day  be  re 
membered  ;  and  "  government  of  the  people,  by 
the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth." 

Already  my  brief  hour  draws  to  its  close. 
You  know  well  that  within  its  limits  it  would 
be  vain  for  me  to  attempt  to  write  the  history 
of  the  subsequent  operations  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  ;  yet  to  do  all  this  would  be  necessary 
to  do  full  justice  to  our  late  commanding  general. 
Let  me  sum  them  briefly  up  by  saying  that  the 
operations  of  the  remainder  of  the  year  of  which 
I  have  been  speaking,  though  important,  were 
indecisive,  — «-  both  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and 


58       ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE. 

that  of  Northern  Virginia  being  reduced,  by 
heavy  drafts  made  upon  them,  to  sustain  the 
movements  now  taking  place  in  the  West. 

The  succeeding  spring  witnessed  the  great 
change  by  which  our  armies  came  under  one 
head,  by  the  appointment  of  General  Grant  as 
lieutenant-general,  who  was  to  command  in  the 
field  and  not  from  the  Bureau,  —  of  which  latter 
style  of  commanding  we  had  indeed  had  enough, 
—  and  to  whose  splendid  exertions  and  unflinch 
ing  determination  we  owed,  under  God,  our  final 
triumph.  Recognizing  fully  that  the  pinch  of  the 
contest  was  between  this  army  and  that  which 
had  so  long  held  the  lines  of  the  Rebel  capital,  and 
that  other  operations,  however  important,  were 
secondary  and  subsidiary  only,  the  proper  place 
to  direct  the  movements  of  all  seemed  to  him  to 
be  from  the  field ;  and  his  headquarters  were  fixed 
near  those  of  our  commanding  general.  The  near 
presence  of  an  officer  of  higher  rank  with  him 
undoubtedly  rendered  General  Meade's  position 
one  of  some  delicacy  ;  yet  it  cost  him  no  difficulty 
to  meet  all  its  exigencies.  While  the  responsi 
bility  for  the  great  movements  to  be  made  rested 
with  the  lieutenant-general,  their  tactical  ex 
ecution,  so  far  as  this  army  was  concerned, 
devolved  upon  him,  and  the  immediate  command 
was  always  his ;  and  his  duties  were  so  executed, 
I  hazard  nothing  in  saying,  as  to  command  from 
General  Grant  a  respect  and  esteem  which  con 
tinued  to  the  day  of  his  death.  In  the  long 


ORATION  ON  GENERAL  MEADE.       59 

series  of  battles  which  now  commenced,  General 
Meade's  splendid  abilities  as  a  tactician,  his  firm 
ness  and  judgment,  his  devotion  to  his  troops, 
were  everywhere  conspicuous,  at  the  Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania,  and  Cold  Harbor,  lavish  of  their 
dead  ;  and  in  every  conflict  up  to  the  last,  when 
though  the  malarial  fever  that  raged  within  his 
veins  did  not  permit  him  to  sit  on  his  horse,  he 
still  directed  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  its  stern 
pressure  upon  the  encompassed  and  beleaguered 
army  of  Lee.  To  the  great  and  high  idea  of  duty 
which  he  expressed  in  taking  command  of  the 
army,  he  was  faithful  to  the  close  of  its  exis 
tence  ;  and  the  succeeding  years,  which  witnessed 
his  command  in  the  Southern  States,  attest  that 
the  moderation  and  firmness,  the  humanity  and 
love  of  justice,  which  were  essential  attributes 
of  his  character,  make  his  civil  life  as  honorable 
as  his  military  career  was  splendid. 

Comrades,  the  army  which  he  commanded  so 
long  has  passed  away.  No  more  shall  its  bugles 
break  the  sweet  stillness  of  the  morning  air,  as 
with  their  reveille  they  salute  the  coming  day; 
no  more  shall  the  falling  night  hear  the  rolling 
tattoo  of  its  drums.  Its  tents  are  struck  ;  and  its 
cannon  have  thundered  their  last  notes  of  defi 
ance  and  of  victory.  Each  year  we  who  were 
its  survivors  assemble  in  sadly  diminishing  num 
bers,  as  the  remorseless  artillery  of  time  hurls  its 
fatal  missiles  into  our  ranks,  until  shortly  a  few 
old  men  only  shall  gather  together  and  strive 


60  ORATION   ON   GENERAL   MEADE. 

with  feeble  voices  to  raise  the  thundering  battle- 
cheer  with  which  we  once  answered  the  Rebel 
yells,  to  sink  themselves  soon  after  under  the 
common  lot.  How  fast  the  coming  generations 
rise  to  push  us  from  our  places,  when  we  re 
member  all  whom  we  have  lost,  even  since  the 
war,  I  do  not  need  to  remind  you.  Yet  as 
generation  after  generation  shall  come  in  their 
long  succession,  while  the  great  flag  that  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  bore  at  the  head  of  its 
inarching  columns  waves  over  a  free  and  united 
people,  it  will  be  remembered  that  in  its  day  and 
generation,  and  in  its  time  and  place,  that  army 
did  for  liberty  and  law,  for  the  Constitution  and 
the  Union,  deeds  worthy  of  immortal  honor.  And 
he  who  was  its  leader  on  so  many  a  hot  and 
bloody  day  and  on  so  many  a  well-contested  field, 
-we  leave  him  to  his  long  repose,  to  his  pure, 
unsullied,  and  well-earned  fame,  in  the  full  con 
fidence  that  while  a  Christian  gentleman,  a  wise 
and  true  soldier,  a  lofty  patriot,  is  honored,  he 
will  not  be  forgotten  :  — 

"  Mild  in  manner,  fair  in  favor, 

Kind  in  temper,  fierce  in  fight, 
Warrior,  nobler,  gentler,  braver, 
Never  will  behold  the  light." 


ADDRESS 

AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF    THE    SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT  AT 
WORCESTER,  JULY  15,  1874. 


WITH  the  reflections  that  have  been  excited  by 
the  noble  address  to  which  we  have  just  listened 
engrossing  our  minds,  with  the  emotions  it  has 
kindled  still  swelling  our  hearts,  it  would  hardly 
seem  advisable  (were  I  to  consult  my  own  views 
alone)  that  more  should  be  added  ;  and  we  might 
well  depart,  satisfied  that  all  it  was  in  our  power 
to  do  by  the  exercises  of  this  day  had  been  done. 
Yet  as  it  has  seemed  otherwise  to  the  committee, 
who  have  desired  that  some  one  should  speak  upon 
this  occasion  who  had  himself  served  with  those 
whose  deeds  we  have  striven  this  day  to  commem 
orate,  I  answer  readily  to  the  call.  Certainly  it  is 
most  fitting  that  in  a  city  whose  existence  and  pros 
perity  demonstrate  more  clearly  than  any  labored 
argument  all  that  has  been  achieved  by  the  great 
principles  of  liberty  and  equality  which  are  the 
foundation-stones  of  the  mighty  fabric  of  the 
American  Union,  some  memorial  should  rise  which 
should  tell  in  after  times  our  affectionate  and  pro 
found  regard  for  the  heroic  self-devotion  and  ex 
alted  patriotism  of  those  who  have  died  to  preserve 


62        SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT   AT   WORCESTER. 

it.  Did  not  the  impulse  of  gratitude  constrain  us 
to  erect  this  monument,  wisdom  alone  would  dictate 
such  a  step  ;  so  that  by  its  mute  appeal  there  might 
be  inculcated  upon  all,  the  force  and  beauty  of 
their  noble  example.  The  education  of  a  people  in 
great  ideas  is  not  by  books  alone  ;  there  is  a  warmth 
and  glow  in  whatever  is  brave,  noble,  and  heroic, 
among  the  men  of  our  own  race  and  time,  which 
we  shall  look  for  in  vain  among  the  teachings  of 
the  remote  past ;  and  all  wise  nations  have  striven 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  those  whom  they 
have  deemed  worthy  of  honor,  by  the  pen  of  the 
poet,  the  voice  of  the  orator,  and  the  hand  of  the 
sculptor.  How  strong  and  potent  through  every 
phase  of  our  great  struggle  was  the  remembrance 
that  we  were  endeavoring  to  preserve  that  govern 
ment  which,  with  infinite  care,  our  fathers  had 
constructed  !  As  to  the  lips  of  many  a  dying 
soldier  —  lips  that  were  to  know  joy  and  grief  no 
more  —  there  came  a  smile  as  he  proudly  recalled 
that  he  too  had  trod,  and  with  no  unequal  foot 
steps,  in  the  paths  marked  out  by  our  great  fore 
fathers,  so  hereafter  those  to  whom  in  a  few  short 
years  we  must  surrender  this  fair  land,  as  they  ad 
vance  in  the  freshness  of  their  youthful  energy  to 
the  duties  of  citizens,  shall  gather  inspiration  from 
the  example  of  these  men  who  were  our  comrades 
and  brethren.  They  shall  hear  of  the  fierce  fights  of 
the  Peninsula,  of  Antietam,  Gettysburg,  and  Nash 
ville,  of  the  March  to  the  Sea  and  the  Surrender  of 
Appomattox,  and  their  hearts  shall  glow  with  the 


SOLDIERS1   MONUMENT   AT   WORCESTER.         63 

desire  to  emulate  the  noble  fidelity  and  courage 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  They 
shall  read  the  sad  and  wretched  story  of  the  hor 
rors  and  systematic  tortures  of  the  Southern  prison- 
houses,  which  history  will  be  compelled  by  truth 
to  record,  and  shall  be  filled  with  a  deeper  detesta 
tion  of  that  system  of  slavery  which  made  such 
cruelties  possible,  and  a  loftier  respect  for  that 
liberty  for  which  these  brave  men  died.  To-day 
we  rear  no  monument  to  military  glory ;  we  come 
not  to  adorn  with  the  laurel  wreath  the  brow  of 
any  great  chieftain,  but  to  honor  those  qualities 
which  make  men  truly  great,  although  their  duties 
were  performed  in  the  humblest  station.  The  les 
son  taught  by  these  noble  lives  and  heroic  deaths 
we  seek  so  to  impress  that  it  may  sink  deep  into 
the  hearts  of  our  countrymen  long  after  our  own 
have  ceased  to  beat. 

The  duties  which  the  citizens  of  every  free  gov 
ernment  owe  to  it  are  of  necessity  of  a  higher  and 
more  solemn  character  than  the  obligations  which 
are  due  from  the  subjects  of  any  other  State.  It 
is  emphatically  their  own,  made  by  their  own  will, 
to  be  sustained,  if  sustained  at  all,  by  their  own 
power.  When  menaced  by  disorder  from  within 
or  foes  from  without,  it  is  for  themselves  to  defend 
it.  This  duty  cannot  be  avoided  or  transferred ; 
they  who  would  be  free  and  they  who  would  pre 
serve  their  freedom  alike  "  themselves  must  strike 
the  blow." 

We  recognize  fully  that  among  the  causes  which 


64        SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   WORCESTER. 

have  degraded  nations,  war,  by  the  evils,  moral  and 
social,  which  it  brings  in  its  train,  by  the  debts 
with  which  it  encumbers  industry  and  burdens  its 
rewards,  has  been  among  the  worst.  We  know 
that  at  this  stage  of  the  world's  progress  and  in 
this  era  of  civilization  every  nation  which  enters 
upon  a  war  as  vast  and  tremendous  as  that  which 
was  forced  upon  us,  must  justify  itself  and  its  acts. 
Before  the  august  tribunal  of  history,  whose  sum 
mons  cannot  be  disregarded,  before  the  civilized 
world,  we  are  ready  to  plead  and  answer.  As  a 
part  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  a  city  from 
whose  limits  there  went  forth,  largely  recruited 
here  and  almost  entirely  from  this  county,  seven 
splendid  regiments,  some  of  which  may  fairly  be 
classed  as  among  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
whole  army,  we  assert  by  the  solemn  act  of  to 
day,  by  this  bronze  and  granite,  that  had  not  we, 
had  not  these  men  and  their  comrades  done  what 
they  did,  the  fabric  of  free  government  bequeathed 
to  us  would  have  been  destroyed,  and  the  hopes  of 
freemen  throughout  the  world  have  been  blasted. 
We  assert  that  the  cause  for  which  our  own  brave 
men  died  —  that  of  free  government,  that  of 
human  liberty  —  forever  entitles  them  to  honor, 
to  tender  and  grateful  recollection ;  and  that  the 
bravery  and  fortitude  they  exhibited  were  the  true 
fruits  of  the  patriotism  in  which  they  had  their 
origin.  We  assert,  now  that  the  battle  is  fought 
and  the  victory  won,  that  what  they  did  and  what 
we  did  was  demanded  most  solemnly  by  duty  ;  and 


SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT  AT   WORCESTER.         65 

that  if  we  had  failed  in  putting  forth  every  effort 
to  suppress  the  Rebellion,  we  should  have  been 
worthy  to  be  branded  as  recreant  to  liberty. 

By  no  fault  of  ours,  by  the  wisdom  of  our 
fathers,  —  and  I  use  the  words  with  the  tenderest 
respect  for  them,  for  I  realize  all  their  difficulties, — 
there  had  been  welded  together,  not  in  a  compact, 
but  by  an  organic  law,  two  classes  of  States.  That 
there  should  be  such  a  union  was  a  matter  of 
political  necessity ;  and  no  one  can  contemplate 
this  wonderful  form  of  government  without  the 
profoundest  respect  and  reverence  for  its  founders, 
successfully  combining  as  they  did  the  peace  and 
good  order  of  small  States  with  the  strength,  power, 
and  widely  extended  influence  of  a  great  govern 
ment.  That  there  was  a  flaw  in  their  work,  they 
knew ;  and  yet,  looking  at  it  as  they  saw  it  when 
it  was  done,  —  when  they  recognized  that  they  were 
freed  from  the  troubles,  the  jealousies,  the  weak 
ness  of  the  Confederation  which  had  struggled 
through  the  Revolution,  and  which,  after  the  ex 
ternal  cohesive  pressure  of  war  had  been  with 
drawn,  had  tried  to  perform  some  of  the  duties  of 
a  government,  —  what  wonder  that  they  trusted 
that  in  process  of  time  the  States  would  become 
essentially  alike,  and  slavery,  which  they  hesitated 
to  acknowledge  by  name,  would  by  some  agency 
pass  away.  It  was  not  so  to  be.  Madly  resolved 
to  rule  or  ruin,  determined  to  interrupt  the  natural 
progress  of  events  and  the  victory  for  freedom 
which  peace  was  so  rapidly  winning,  the  Southern 


66        SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT  WORCESTER. 

States  determined  to  dismember  the  Union.  Per 
haps  even  in  this  we  might  have  acquiesced,  had 
we  not  seen  clearly  that  two  such  governments  as 
our  own  and  the  one  they  would  have  established 
could  not  exist  together.  We  should  have  been 
side  by  side  with  a  nation  from  the  very  necessi 
ties  of  its  existence  aggressive,  resolute,  deter 
mined,  and  compelled  to  seek  out  new  fields  into 
which  to  extend  its  power.  There  was  an  instinct 
which  told  the  American  people  not  only  that  if 
they  permitted  the  Union  to  be  once  divided,  it 
could  never  be  reunited,  but  also  that  if  broken 
into  two  such  States,  one  or  the  other  must  have 
the  mastery.  Our  war  is  never  to  be  confounded 
with  the  struggles  for  power  or  for  extended  ter 
ritory,  or  the  fierce  contests  of  dynasties,  which 
constitute  so  large  a  portion  of  those  which  have 
filled  the  earth  with  bloodshed  ;  it  was  a  great 
elemental  struggle  in  which  two  opposite  systems 
were  placed  in  direct  conflict.  Difficult  as  it  had 
been  to  deal  with  the  question  of  slavery  within 
the  Union,  it  was  impossible  to  deal  with  it  in  a 
government  outside  of  the  Union ;  and  it  was  to 
be  settled  then  a.nd  there  whether  the  continent 
should  be  all  free  or  all  slave.  Like  the  clouds 
charged  with  opposite  electricities  which  sweep 
over  and  meet  in  collision  in  our  summer  skies, 
these  two  systems  came  of  necessity  into  collision  ; 
but  as  after  the  electric  storm  the  air  is  purer  and 
fresher,  so  now  that  the  fury  of  the  tempest  has 
passed,  the  face  of  all  nature  is  brighter  and  fairer. 


SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT    WORCESTER.         67 

Perhaps  it  may  be  true  that  if  it  had  been  revealed 
to  us  how  vast  the  contest,  how  immense  the  suf 
fering,  how  terrible  the  expenditure  of  life,  we 
should  have  shrunk  back  aghast  from  that  sea  of 
fire  and  blood ;  but  the  heart  of  no  people  ever 
beat  more  strongly  and  truly  than  did  that  of  the 
American  people,  as  it  sent  back  its  answer  to  the 
cannon-fire  -which  announced  that  the  flag  of  the 
Union  no  longer  protected  from  insult  those  over 
whom  it  floated.  The  Union,  it  said,  is  no  rope  of 
sand  such  as  the  winds  and  waves  may  toss  upon 
the  shore,  but  a  chain  whose  links,  though  bright 
as  gold,  are  yet  as  strong  as  adamant. 

Wars  have  not  always  been  unmixed  evils.  Out 
of  the  fierce  conflicts  of  the  English  people  in  the 
days  of  our  own  Puritan  fathers  came  the  liberty 
which  England  now  enjoys ;  and  it  is  by  wars  that 
France  and  Spain,  blindly,  often  madly,  striving, 
still  force  their  way  on  towards  the  republic,  which 
is  their  only  hope  for  permanent  peace.  Who  is 
there  to  say  that,  vast  as  the  price  was,  our  own  con 
flict  was  not  worth  all  that  it  cost  ?  True  it  is  that 
our  treasure  was  poured  out  like  water ;  that  noble 
and  valuable  lives,  not  to  be  estimated  in  any  scale 
of  material  wealth,  were  sacrificed  by  thousands ; 
yet  the  consolidation  of  a  government  in  which  two 
discordant  elements  had  so  long  contended  was 
worth  even  this  mighty  price.  The  American 
people,  rejecting  all  the  shallow  artifices  of  com 
promise,  have  placed  their  feet  firmly  and  forever 
upon  the  great  rocks  of  Liberty,  Equality,  and 


68        SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   WORCESTER. 

Justice,  and  from  them  they  cannot  be  moved. 
The  personal  feelings  engendered  between  us  and 
the  rebellious  portion  of  the  Southern  States  will 
pass  away  as  the  physical  signs  of  the  conflict 
rapidly  disappear ;  but  the  work  which  these 
hands,  now  cold  and  still,  have  wrought,  is  to 
endure  as  long  as  freedom  has  an  abiding-place 
on  earth. 

Of  the  unfortunate  victims  whom  the  twin 
furies  of  Slavery  and  Kebellion  led  forth  to 
battle,  we,  although  standing  here  in  honor  of 
the  brave  who  yielded  their  lives  in  the  great 
and  holy  cause  of  Loyalty  and  Freedom,  will 
speak  no  word  of  harshness.  Misled,  betrayed, 
erring,  they  were  our  countrymen  still ;  but  it 
were  childish  weakness  to  speak  of  their  cause 
other  than  as  it  was.  Already  the  voices  of  true 
men  who  served  in  the  Confederate  army  begin 
to  speak  out  in  recognition  of  the  truth  that  their 
cause  was  opposed  alike  to  the  government  of  the 
country,  the  civilization  of  the  age,  and  to  human 
ity  itself.  The  victories  of  the  sword  are  sharp 
and  incisive,  those  of  opinion  slower,  yet  more  en 
during  ;  but  the  day  will  come  when  throughout 
the  eleven  States  which  were  the  seat  of  this 
gigantic  Rebellion,  it  will  be  universally  admitted 
that  it  was  better  for  them  as  well  as  for  us  that 
it  failed. 

For  the  cordial  greeting  that  has  been  given  to 
those  who  have  been  in  the  field,  for  the  generous 
and  noble  tribute  that  has  been  paid  to  them  by 


SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT  AT  WORCESTER.        G9 

the  orator  of  the  occasion,  which  has  been  so 
warmly  received,  I  return  thanks  on  their  behalf 
and  my  own  most  sincerely.  To-day  we  that 
have  been  soldiers  desire  to  do  all  honor  to  the 
noble  spirit  of  loyalty  that  prevailed  at  home, 
which  encouraged  the  heart  and  strengthened  the 
hand  of  every  man  who  went  forth  to  the  field. 
We  know  well  how  many  there  were  whom  age, 
infirmity,  or  duties  more  immediate  and  impera 
tive  even  than  those  of  filling  the  army,  pre 
vented  from  being  of  our  number.  All  who  in 
those  hours  of  trial  did  their  duty  are  entitled 
proudly  to  remember  it  now  and  hereafter.  Nor 
ought  we  to  forget  the  obligations  we  are  un 
der  to  the  women  of  the  country,  for  the  cour 
age  they  manifested  from  the  beginning  to  the 
very  close  of  the  struggle.  Even  now,  when 
the  call  for  charity  is  made,  —  and  it  must  of 
necessity  be,  at  the  close  of  war  so  terrible  as 
this,  that  it  is  often  made,  -  -  their  ears  are 
never  deaf.  Hard  as  is  the  lot,  stern  as  is  the 
duty  of  the  soldier  who  swings  on  his  knapsack 
for  the  weary  fields  of  war,  that  of  the  mother 
who  gives  up  her  son,  of  the  wife  who  gives  up 
her  husband,  of  the  maiden  who  gives  up  her 
lover,  is  harder  still ;  for  it  is  hers  only  to  weep 
and  watch  and  wait.  For  him,  if  there  is  the 
danger,  there  is  the  stern  joy  of  the  conflict ;  for 
her,  only  the  long  weary  hours  of  sadness  and 
suspense.  I  read  of  the  noble  Roman  and  Gre 
cian  mothers,  of  the  brave  and  tender  women 


70        SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   WORCESTER. 

whom  English  literature  and  English  poetry  have 
loved  to  remember  ;  but  again  and  yet  again  in 
our  own  day  was  re-enacted  here  every  beautiful 
story  of  feminine  self-sacrifice  by  the  women  of 
our  own  land.  Honor  to  all  for  their  words  of 
encouragement  and  cheer,  with  which  they  strove 
to  fortify  the  hearts  of  those  whom  they  loved, 
even  when  their  own  wrere  nearly  bursting.  But 
for  those  who  in  lonely  homes  or  by  bereaved 
firesides  wait  still  for  the  footsteps  that  are  to 
come  no  more  on  earth,  for  the  voices  that  are 
forever  silent,  let  them  believe  that  the  tenderest 
sympathy  and  most  affectionate  regard  of  a  grate 
ful  people  now  and  always  surround  them. 

Of  the  men  themselves,  whose  names  are  borne 
upon  these  tablets,  how  can  I  trust  myself  to 
speak  on  an  occasion  which  seems  to  recall  them, 
as  I  have  known  them  through  all  the  long  and 
anxious  years  of  the  war,  —  sometimes  sad  and 
weary  with  the  long  marches  under  the  stifling 
heat  of  the  July  sun,  or  in  the  wet  and  cold  of 
December's  snow ;  sometimes  cheerful  and  gay 
as  they  gathered  in  merry  groups  around  the 
evening  fires.  Again  their  voices  seem  to  ring 
out  loud  and  high  in  the  charging  cheer  of  the 
fierce  attack ;  again  to  speak  in  the  old,  calm, 
resolute  tones,  as  they  sternly  struggle  with  the 
sad  hours  of  disaster  and  defeat.  There  are 
names  written  here  that  I  cannot,  dare  not, 
trust  myself  to  utter,  lest  I  lose  the  self-control 
proper  for  the  occasion,  —  for  they  are  the  names 


SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   WORCESTER.        71 

of  men  who  have  fought  by  my  side  in  my  own 
commands,  who  have  shared  my  mess  and  my 
blanket,  upon  whom  often  my  arm  has  leaned 
with  a  confidence  that  never  was  betrayed.  To 
many  hearts  there  comes  the  thought  of  those 
dearer  and  tenderer  than  any  others  can  be  ;  yet 
it  is  better  to  recall  them  together,  as  they  are 
grouped  together  by  valor  in  their  country's 
cause,  and  by  their  glorious  doom.  Embracing 
every  condition  of  our  social  life,  the  richest 
arid  poorest,  the  best  and  the  least  educated, 
they  were  true  representative  men  of  the  Amer 
ican  people,  citizens  before  they  were  soldiers, 
holding  the  former  as  their  highest  title,  and 
alwavs  remembering  that  they  were  soldiers  only 
that  they  and  those  for  whom  they  died  might 
enjoy  forever  the  proud  title  of  citizens  of  a 
well-ordered,  peaceful,  free  republic.  By  far  the 
larger  number  were  of  the  enlisted  men  ;  and  of 
those  who  were  borne  upon  the  roll  as  officers, 
many  have  carried  the  knapsack  and  the  musket 
in  the  ranks  of  the  army.  The  distinctions  of 
position,  inseparable  from  a  service  where  each 
man  must  give  up  to  his  superior  in  rank  his 
own  will  and  judgment,  have  long  since  passed 
away  among  the  living,  —  how  much  more  among 
the  dead  !  To-day  we  come  to  do  honor  to  those 
qualities  of  courage,  fidelity,  patriotism,  which 
ennoble  him  who  exhibits  them,  no  matter  what 
his  rank  or  station.  That  there  were  differences 
among  these  men  is  no  doubt  true ;  for  it  would  be 


72        SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT  WORCESTER. 

idle  to  pretend  that  all  were  equally  actuated  by 
the  same  lofty  patriotism  and  the  same  exalted 
spirit.  Yet  if  among  them  there  is  any  one  less 
worthy  than  the  others,  I  use  the  words  of  the 
Athenian  orator  when  I  say  that  "  I  hold  above 
him,  as  a  shield,  his  value  in  his  country's  be 
half."  When  all  deductions  are  made,  if  any  are 
to  be  made,  the  fact  will  stand  that  no  army  ever 
went  to  the  field  more  solemnly  resolved  upon 
duty,  or  animated  by  a  higher  sense  of  its  re 
sponsibility,  than  our  own.  It  was  no  fierce 
fire  of  ambition,  no  thirst  for  the  pomp  and 
glitter  of  military  glory,  no  wild  longing  for 
adventure,  that  urged  our  soldiers  on ;  but  with 
a  deep  sense  of  their  obligation  to  their  coun 
try,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  all  their  dan 
gers,  yet  with  a  determination  to  meet  them 
all,  they  went  forth.  They  were  nobler  men, 
they  were  braver  soldiers,  because,  calmly  re 
flecting,  they  had  followed  the  path  to  which 
duty  beckoned,  in  the  stern  faith  that  they 
would  follow  it  still,  even  though  it  led  them 
to  death. 

To-day  there  is  no  time  to  dwell  at  length  on 
their  deeds,  —  for  to  enumerate  all  the  trials  of 
those  doubtful  years  is  the  province  of  the  his 
torian,  and  not  of  the  casual  speaker,  —  but 
steadily  we  pressed  on  until  God  had  given  us 
the  victory.  These  men  could  not  know  when 
they  fell  but  that  their  struggles  would  be  use 
less,  for  their  dying  eyes  were  permitted  to  look 


SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT  AT  WORCESTER.        73 

only  upon  the  sad  spectacle  of  States  "  discord 
ant,  belligerent,  and  drenched  in  fraternal  blood  ; " 
yet  now  the  land  itself  seems  nobler  and  fairer 
for  these  that  it  bears  in  its  bosom.  As  the 
power  of  association  unites  the  memory  of  each 
to  the  spot  where  his  mouldering  dust  is  laid, 
so  our  mountains  seem  loftier,  as  they  guard 
the  resting-places  where  they  lie,  and  our  rivers 
to  move  to  the  sea  with  a  broader  and  prouder 
sweep,  because  of  the  brave  men  whose  life-blood 
has  mingled  with  their  streams. 

"  They  fell,  devoted  but  undying  ; 
The  very  gale  their  names  seems  sighing ; 
The  waters  murmur  of  their  name ; 
The  woods  are  peopled  with  their  fame. 

Their  spirits  wrap  the  dusky  mountain  ; 
Their  memory  sparkles  o'er  the  fountain : 
The  meanest  rill,  the  mightiest  river, 
Rolls  mingling  with  their  fame  forever." 

Comrades !  The  Monument  we  have  to-day 
received,  I  do  not  permit  myself  to  doubt  we 
shall  cherish  always  as  a  memorial  worthy  of 
every  honor.  To-day  we  have  dedicated  it  by 
the  strains  of  sad  yet  proud  music,  by  the  pen 
of  the  poet,  by  the  voice  of  the  accomplished 
orator  who  has  addressed  us,  and  by  solemn  in 
vocation  to  Heaven,  as  our  attestation  of  the 
truth  and  bravery  of  these  men.  We  have  com 
mended  them  and  their  deeds  forever  to  the 
gratitude  of  their  fellow-countrymen.  Yet  our 


74      SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   WORCESTER. 

ceremony  will  be  but  formal  and  empty,  if  we  do 
not  endeavor  to  show  in  ourselves,  now  and  al 
ways,  some  evidence  of  the  patriotism  which  they 
exhibited.  The  Rebel  flag  was  furled,  indeed,  at 
Appomattox  ;  but  our  duties  as  citizens  are  not  fin 
ished,  and  never  can  be  while  life  shall  last.  As 
we  stood  together  in  our  ranks,  in  the  fields  that 
girdle  this  fair  city,  —  ere  we  started  on  that 
journey  from  which  so  many  were  never  to  re 
turn,  —  with  bared  heads  and  uplifted  hands  we 
solemnly  swore  to  be  true  to  the  Republic,  and  to 
defend  it  against  all  its  enemies.  From  that  great 
oath,  the  dead  alone  are  absolved,  however  bravely 
we  may  have  kept  it  in  the  smoke  and  fire  of  the 
battle-field.  To-day  let  us  renew  that  solemn  ob 
ligation  ;  to  the  luxury  that  enervates  a  nation, 
let  us  oppose  the  dignity  of  simple,  manly,  heroic 
lives ;  to  the  corruption  that  seems  always  to  prey 
upon  great  and  wealthy  States,  let  us  show  our 
selves  always  resolute  and  implacable  foes  ;  and 
as  at  the  dawning  of  the  Rebellion,  so  now,  let  us 
pledge  our  faith  to  all  our  fellow-citizens,  and  our 
undying  devotion  to  the  Union,  wherever  the  great 
flag,  the  symbol  of  Liberty  and  Law,  waves  on  the 
land  or  on  the  sea. 

And  now,  dear  fellow-comrades,  wherever  you 
have  found  your  final  resting-place,  repose  in 
peace  and  honor !  We  who  shared  with  you  the 
long  night-watches,  the  weary  inarches,  the  stormy 
conflicts,  like  you  are  soon  to  pass  away  ;  but  com 
ing  generations  shall  take  up  our  eulogy,  and  you 


SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT  AT   WORCESTER.         75 

shall  be  known  and  honored  long  after  the  clods 
of  the  valley  have  pressed  us  to  our  eternal  rest. 
Though  to  a  narrow  vision  your  lives  seem  short, 
your  deaths  to  have  been  premature,  yet  that  life 
is  full  and  complete  which  like  yours  has  an 
swered  life's  great  end.  It  is  not  wealth  or 
power  that  constitutes  the  true  glory  of  a  State, 
but  noble,  high-souled  men  ;  and  this  imperial 
Union  shall  hold  your  fame  forever  as  the  bright 
est  jewel  in  her  radiant  crown.  As  hearts  can 
not  be  divided,  as  true  souls  must  ever  remain 
united,  so  are  we  one  army  still ;  although  the 
great  river  which  rolls  between  the  living  and 
the  dead  yet  leaves  us  on  this  hither  side, 
although  we  see  that  your  faces  are  bright  with 
a  light  more  resplendent  than  that  of  the  sum 
mer's  sun,  and  that  the  armor  you  wear  "  never 
gleamed  upon  earthly  anvil,"  still  would  we  be 
one  with  you  in  fidelity  to  duty,  in  loyalty  to 
liberty,  in  devotion  to  the  country  which  is  the 
mother  of  us  all. 


ORATION 

AT  THE  CENTENNIAL  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF 
BUNKER   HILL,  JUNE  17,  1875. 


IN  pious  and  patriotic  commemoration  of  the 
great  deed  which  one  hundred  years  ago  was  done 
on  this  immortal  field  ;  in  deep  thankfulness  for 
the  blessings  which  have  been  showered  upon  us 
as  a  people  with  so  lavish  a  hand  ;  in  the  earnest 
hope  that  the  liberty,  guarded  and  sustained  by 
the  sanctions  of  law,  which  the  valor  of  our  fathers 
won  for  us,  and  which  we  hold  to-day  in  solemn 
trust,  may  be  transmitted  to  endless  generations,  — 
we  have  gathered  to-day  in  this  countless  throng, 
representing  in  its  assemblage  every  portion  of  our 
common  country. 

A  welcome,  cordial,  generous,  and  heartfelt,  to 
each  and  all ! 

Welcome  to  the  sons  of  New  England,  and  their 
descendants,  no  matter  where  their  homes  may  be  ! 
They  stand  upon  the  soil  made  sacred  now  and  for 
ever  by  the  blood  of  their  fathers.  Among  them 
we  recognize  with  peculiar  pleasure  and  satisfac 
tion  those  allied  by  family  ties  to  the  great  leaders 
of  the  day,  —  to  Prescott,  Putnam,  Warren  ;  to 
Stark,  Knowlton,  Pomeroy,  and  equally  those  in 


78  THE   BATTLE  OF   BUNKER  HILL. 

whose  veins  flows  the  kindred  blood  of  any  of 
the  brave  men  who  stood  together  in  the  battle- 
line. 

Insignificant  as  the  conflict  seems  to  us  now  in 
regard  to  the  numbers  engaged,  unimportant  as  it 
was  then  so  far  as  results  purely  military  and  stra 
tegical  were  concerned,  the  valor  and  patriotism 
here  exhibited,  the  time  when  and  the  opportunity 
on  which  they  were  thus  displayed,  have  justly 
caused  it  to  be  ranked  among  the  decisive  battles 
of  the  world. 

Welcome  to  the  citizens  of  every  State,  whether 
they  have  come  here  from  those  States  which  rep 
resent  the  thirteen  colonies,  or  from  the  younger. 
States  of  the  Union  !  We  thank  them  all,  whether 
they  come  from  the  great  Middle  States  which  bind 
us  together,  from  the  West,  or  from  the  South,  for 
the  pilgrimage  they  have  made  hither  in  generous 
appreciation  of  the  great  step  that  was  taken  here 
upon  the  jagged  and  thorny  path  on  which  we  were 
compelled  to  walk  in  our  journey  towards  indepen 
dence.  Fought  although  this  battle  was  by  the 
men  of  the  colonies  of  New  England,  they  did  not 
stand  for  themselves  alone,  but  that  there  might 
be  founded  a  structure  imperishable  as  any  that 
man  can  rear  in  a  free  and  united  government. 
The  corner-stone  of  the  edifice  they  laid  was  for 
all  the  colonies  that  were,  all  the  States  that  are, 
all  the  States  that  are  yet  to  be. 

Welcome  to  the  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  the  Justices  of  its  Supreme  Court,  and  the 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL.  79 

General  commanding  its  armies!  They  represent 
to  us  the  government  which  was  the  result  of  the 
Revolution.  In  1775,  Massachusetts  was  the  most 
populous  but  one  or  perhaps  two  of  the  colonies, 
and  by  the  unity  of  her  people  the  most  powerful 
and  warlike  of  any.  She  has  seen,  notwithstand^ 
ing  her  own  vast  increase  in  population  and  wealth, 
although  a  great  State  has  since  been  taken  from 
what  were  then  her  borders,  her  relative  position 
change  ;  but  she  has  seen  with  admiration  and  not 
with  envy,  with  pride  and  satisfaction  and  not 
with  mean  jealousy,  the  growth  of  States  broader, 
richer,  and  fairer  than  she  can  hope  to  be.  What 
ever  changes  may  have  come,  her  spirit  has  not 
changed,  her  voice  has  not  altered.  Then  singled 
out  from  the  colonies  to  be  first  subdued  and  pun 
ished,  as  she  lifted  her  head  in  stern  defence  of  her 
ancient  liberty,  in  proud  defiance  of  those  who 
would  oppress  her,  demanding  her  own  great  right 
of  local  self-government,  she  called  upon  her  sister 
colonies  for  a  union  that  should  secure  and  main 
tain  the  rights  of  all ;  so  to-day  she  demands  for 
all  others  .every  right  which  she  asks  for  herself, 
and  she  calls  upon  all  for  that  cordial  and  gener 
ous  obedience  which  she  is  ready  to  render  to  the 
Constitution  which  has  united  them  forever. 

It  was  to  be  expected  as  the  controversy  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  moved  on  from  the 
proposed  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1764,  and  as 
its  inevitable  tendency  developed,  that  its  weight 
should  be  thrown  in  the  first  instance  upon  New 


80  THE   BATTLE  OF   BUNKER  HILL. 

England  and  her  chief  town  and  colony.  The 
colonies  differed  in  some  important  respects  in  the 
manner  in  which  they  had  been  settled  and  in 
the  character  of  their  people.  To  some  there  was 
nothing  distasteful  in  a  monarchical  government 
as  such,  if  it  had  been  wisely  and  liberally  admin 
istered  ;  but  New  England  remembered  always  the 
race  from  which  she  sprung,  and  why  her  fathers 
had  crossed  the  sea.  Others  had  come  from  a  love 
of  adventure,  from  the  hope  of  wealth,  from  a  de 
sire  to  test  the  fortunes  of  a  new  world  ;  but  for 
none  of  these  things  had  her  founders  left  the 
pleasant  fields  and  loved  homes  of  their  native 
land,  and  the  unquenchable  love  of  liberty  which 
animated  them  lived  still  in  the  bosoms  of  their 
descendants.  Nor  was  her  stern  religious  faith 
averse  to  the  assertion  by  force  of  what  she  deemed 
her  liberties.  In  Parliament,  the  spirit  that  pre 
vailed  at  the  time  of  the  accession  of  George  III. 
was  different  from  that  ardent  zeal  for  constitu 
tional  freedom  which  had  resulted  in  the  dethrone 
ment  of  James  II.  ;  but  New  England  understood 
her  rights,  and  was  prompt  to  maintain  them  al 
ways  in  the  spirit  of  the  English  Commonwealth. 
"  In  what  law-book,  in  what  records  or  archives 
of  State,"  said  one  to  Selden,  "  do  you  find  the 
law  for  resisting  tyranny  ?  "  and  the  great  lawyer 
of  that  day  answered,  "  It  has  always  been  the 
6  custom  of  England ;'  and  the  '  custom  of  England ' 
is  the  law  of  the  land." 

It  was  not  merely  the   right   to   tax   without 


THE   BATTLE  OF  BUNKER   HILL.  81 

representation  ;  it  was  the  claim,  necessarily  in 
volved  in  such  a  right,  to  govern  in  a  different 
manner,  and  through  officials  appointed  by  the 
British  Crown,  that  astonished  the  colonies,  and 
united  all  at  first  in  remonstrance  and  afterwards 
in  determined  resistance.  Her  own  character  and 
the  circumstances  of  her  situation  had  placed 
Massachusetts  in  the  van  of  this  conflict,  and  had 
caused  her,  when  the  policy  of  coercion  was  finally 
resolved  on,  to  be  dealt  with  by  a  system  of  legisla 
tion  unprecedented  in  the  method  usually  adopted 
by  Britain  in  governing  her  colonies.  It  was  in 
dustriously  circulated  in  Parliament  that  she  would 
not  be  sustained  by  the  others  in  the  resolute  atti 
tude  which  she  had  assumed  ;  and  upon  her  were 
rained  in  rapid  succession  the  statutes  known  by 
the  popular  names  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  the 
Regulating  Act,  the  Enforcing  Act,  which  were 
intended  to  reduce  her  chief  town,  the  most  impor 
tant  in  North  America,  to  beggary ;  which  abro 
gated  the  provisions  of  her  charter,  and  took  from 
the  people  the  appointment  of  their  judges,  sher 
iffs,  and  chief  officers ;  which  forbade  the  town- 
meetings,  whose  spirit  had  been  too  bold  and 
resolute  to  be  pleasant ;  which  denied  to  her  citi 
zens  in  many  cases  the  trial  by  jury,  and  permitted 
them  to  be  transported  to  England  or  to  other  colo 
nies  for  trial, — a  system  which,  if  it  could  have 
been  enforced,  would  have  reduced  her  inhabitants 
to  political  servitude.  Sustained  by  her  own  dar 
ing  spirit,  and  by  the  generous  encouragement  of 

6 


82  THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

her  sister  colonies,  she  had  resisted  ;  and  the  ten 
months  that  had  preceded  Lexington  and  Concord 
had  been  practically  those  of  war,  although  blows 
had  not  been  struck,  and  blood  had  not  been  shed. 
In  the  speech  of  Mr.  Burke,  delivered  March,  1775, 
upon  conciliation  with  America,  memorable  not  so 
much  for  its  splendid  eloquence  (although  it  is 
among  the  masterpieces  of  the  English  language) 
as  for  its  generous  statesmanship,  he  describes 
Massachusetts,  the  utter  failure  of  the  attempt  to 
reduce  her  either  to  submission  or  anarchy,  and  her 
preservation  of  order  even  while  she  rejected  the 
authority  of  the  Governor  and  judges  appointed 
by  the  British  Crown.  He  closes  by  saying,  "How 
long  it  will  continue  in  this  state,  or  what  may 
arise  out  of  this  unheard-of  situation,  how  can  the 
wisest  of  us  conjecture  ? " 

Obviously  no  such  condition  of  things  could 
endure  ;  and  before  his  words  could  cross  the 
Atlantic,  the  question  that  he  asked  had  been 
answered  by  the  appeal  to  arms.  The  hoof-beats 
of  Paul  Revere's  horse  along  the  Lexington  road 
had  announced,  as  the  yeomanry  of  Middlesex, 
Essex,  and  Worcester  sprang  to  arms  to  meet  the 
movement  of  the  British  from  Boston,  on  the 
evening  of  April  18,  that  the  lull  was  over,  and 
that  the  storm  had  come  in  all  its  majesty. 

The  day  that  followed  had  changed  the  relation 
of  the  contending  parties  forever  ;  but  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill  is  also  one  of  the  definite  steps 
which  mark  the  progress  of  the  American  Revo- 


THE  BATTLE  OF   BUNKER   HILL.  83 

lution.  It  was  not  merely  that  it  was  an  act  of 
resistance  by  those  who  will  not  submit  to  be 
oppressed  ;  it  was  the  result  of  a  distinctly 
aggressive  movement  on  the  part  of  those  who 
claimed  the  right  to  levy  and  maintain  armies ; 
nor  can  I  better  discharge  the  duty  which  has 
fallen  on  me,  by  the  deeply  regretted  absence  of 
the  distinguished  scholar  and  orator ]  who  it  was 
hoped  would  have  addressed  you,  than  by  recall 
ing  its  events.  Even  if  to  some  extent  I  shall 
seem  to  trespass  upon  the  domain  of  the  historian 
or  the  annalist,  the  deeds  of  brave  men  are  their 
true  eulogy  ;  and  from  a  calm  contemplation  of 
them  we  may  draw  an  inspiration  and  encourage 
ment  greater  than  could  be  derived  from  labored 
argument  or  carefully  studied  reflection. 

Lexington  and  Concord  had  been  immediately 
followed  by  the  gathering  of  the  militia  of  New 
England  for  the  siege  of  Boston,  where  Gage,  now 
reinforced  by  Clinton,  was  compelled  to  rest,  shel 
tered  by  the  cannon  of  the  ships  of  war,  in  com 
mand  of  the  garrison  of  the  beleaguered  town. 
The  force  by  which  he  was  surrounded  was  an 
irregular  one  ;  nor  had  it  any  distinctly  recog 
nized  commander,  —  for  while  a  precedence  was 
accorded  to  General  Ward,  on  account  of  his  sen 
iority,  and  because  more  than  two  thirds  of  those 
assembled  were  Massachusetts  men,  yet,  inasmuch 
as  no  colony  could  claim  authority  over  another, 

1  The  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop. 


84  THE   BATTLE   OF  BUNKER   HILL. 

the  army  was  an  army  of  allies,  the  troops  of 
each  colony  being  commanded  by  its  own  officers, 
while  all  the  general  officers  formed  a  council  of 
war. 

The  occupation  of  Bunker  Hill  was  resolved  on 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  of 
Massachusetts,  made  with  a  knowledge  that  Gen 
eral  Gage  was  about  to  take  possession  of  the 
heights  of  Dorchester  ;  and  on  the  evening  of  the 
16th  of  June  the  force  destined  for  this  formidable 
movement  assembled  upon  the  Common  at  Cam 
bridge.  It  consisted  of  some  seven  or  eight  hun 
dred  men,  drawn  from  the  regiments  of  Prescott, 
Frye,  and  Bridge,  and  of  some  two  hundred  men 
from  Connecticut,  from  the  regiment  of  Putnam, 
under  Captain  Thomas  Knowlton,  the  whole  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  William  Prescott.  As 
they  formed  for  their  march,  Langdon,  the  Presi 
dent  of  Harvard  College,  came  from  his  study,  and 
implored  the  blessing  of  God  upon  their  then 
unknown  and  dangerous  expedition. 

So  always  may  the  voice  of  this  great  institu 
tion,  which,  among  their  earliest  acts  and  in 
their  day  of  weakness,  our  fathers  dedicated  to 
the  cause  of  sound  learning,  be  uplifted  in  solemn 
invocation  in  every  struggle,  whether  in  the 
forum  or  the  field,  for  progress,  for  liberty,  and 
for  the  rights  of  man  !  From  her  halls,  then 
converted  into  barracks,  had  come  forth  the 
men  who,  within  the  thirty-five  years  that  had 
preceded,  had  more  largely  than  any  others  con- 


THE   BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL.  85 

trolled  and  conducted  the  great  debate  between 
England  and  her  colonies,  which,  beginning  dis 
tinctly  in  1764  by  the  proposed  passage  of  the 
Stamp  Act,  was  now  to  be  settled  by  the  arbitra 
ment  of  arms.  In  1740  had  graduated  Samuel 
Adams,  and  in  his  thesis  for  the  Master's  degree 
had  maintained  the  proposition  which  was  the 
foundation  of  the  Revolution,  that  it  was  lawful 
to  resist  the  supreme  magistrate  if  the  common 
wealth  could  not  otherwise  be  preserved.  He  had 
been  followed,  among  others  hardly  less  distin 
guished,  by  James  Otis,  by  Cooper  and  Bowdoin, 
Hancock  and  John  Adams,  by  Warren  and  Quincy. 
Differing  in  ages  and  occupations,  in  personal 
qualities  and  mental  characteristics,  this  remark 
able  group  had  been  drawn  together  by  common 
enthusiasm.  To  their  work  they  had  brought 
every  energy  of  mind  and  heart ;  and  they  had  so 
managed  their  share  of  the  controversy,  in  which 
all  the  leading  statesmen  of  Britain  had  partici 
pated,  as  to  have  commanded  the  respect  of  their 
opponents,  while  they  inspired  and  convinced  their 
own  countrymen.  Many  lived  to  see  their  hopes 
fulfilled  ;  yet  not  all.  Already  Quincy,  the  young 
est  of  this  illustrious  circle,  had  passed  away,  ap 
pealing  with  his  dying  words  to  his  countrymen 
to  be  prepared  to  seal  their  faith  and  constancy 
to  their  liberties  with  their  blood.  Already  the 
gloomy  shadow  of  mental  darkness  had  obscured 
forever  the  splendid  powers  of  Otis  ;  and  the  hour 
of  Warren  was  nearly  come. 


86  THE  BATTLE  OF   BUNKER   HILL. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  as  the 
detachments,  with  Prescott  at  their  head,  moved 
from  Cambridge.  On  arriving  at  Charlestown,  a 
consultation  was  held,  in  which  it  is  believed  that 
Putnam,  and  perhaps  Pomeroy,  joined  ;  and  it  was 
determined  to  fortify  Breed's  Hill,  not  then  known 
by  the  distinctive  name  it  has  since  borne.  Con 
nected  with  Bunker  Hill  by  a  high  ridge,  these 
two  eminences  might  not  improperly  be  considered 
as  peaks  of  the  same  hill ;  and  for  the  purpose  of 
annoyance  to  the  British  at  Boston,  Breed's  Hill 
was  better  adapted.  Together  they  traverse  a 
large  portion  of  the  peninsula  of  Charlestown, 
which,  connected  with  the  mainland  by  a  narrow 
neck,  and  broadening  as  it  approaches  Boston,  is 
washed  on  the  northern  side  by  the  Mystic,  and  on 
the  eastern  and  southern  by  the  Charles  River.  As 
the  line  of  retreat  to  the  Neck,  which  was  the 
only  approach,  was  long,  Breed's  Hill  could  not 
be  safely  held,  however,  without  fortifying  Bunker 
Hill  also. 

At  midnight  work  on  the  redoubt  began  ;  and  at 
dawn  the  intrenchments,  as  they  were  discovered 
by  the  British  fleet  in  Charles  River,  which  opened 
upon  them  at  once,  were  about  six  feet  high.  Well 
sheltered  within  them,  the  men,  under  a  terrific 
cannonade  from  the  ships  and  floating  batteries, 
aided  by  a  battery  on  Copp's  Hill  opposite,  con 
tinued  to  labor  at  the  works  until  about  eleven 
o'clock,  when  they  were  substantially  finished.  At 
about  this  time  General  Putnam  reached  the  field, 


THE   BATTLE   OF  BUNKER   HILL.  87 

and  recommended  that  the  intrenching  tools  be 
sent  to  Bunker  Hill,  where  he  directed  the  throw 
ing  up  of  a  breastwork  which,  in  the  confusion  of 
the  day,  was  never  completed. 

Oppressed  by  their  severe  labor,  the  terrific 
heat,  and  their  want  of  water  and  provisions, 
some  urged  upon  Prescott  that  he  should  send 
to  General  Ward  that  they  might  be  relieved ; 
but  this  he  resolutely  refused,  saying  that  the  men 
who  had  raised  the  works  were  best  able  to  defend 
them.  At  Cambridge,  however,  much  anxiety 
prevailed.  General  Ward,  who  was  of  opinion 
that  General  Gage  must  attack  at  once,  and  would 
make  his  principal  attack  at  Cambridge,  w^as  un 
willing  to  weaken  the  main  army  until  his  inten 
tions  should  be  developed  ;  but  yielding  partially 
to  the  energetic  remonstrances  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  through  Mr.  Richard  Devens,  consented  to 
order  to  Charlestown  the  regiments  of  Stark  and 
Reed,  which  were  under  his  control. 

The  consultation  at  Boston,  begun  at  the  an 
nouncement  made  by  the  cannonade  from  the 
British  ships,  was  spirited  and  long.  It  was  the 
opinion  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  that  troops  should 
be  landed  at  the  Neck,  and  the  evidently  small 
force  upon  the  hill,  then  taken  in  reverse,  would 
easily  be  captured.  But  this  plan  was  rejected  by 
General  Gage,  for  the  reason  that  the  force  thus 
landed  might  be  placed  between  two  forces  of  the 
enemy,  in  violation  of  the  military  axiom  that 
troops  should  be  compelled  to  deal  only  with  an 


88  THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

enemy  in  front.  While  the  rule  is  sound,  its  appli 
cation  to  this  case  might  well  be  doubted,  as,  by 
concentrating  the  fire  of  the  British  ships  and 
batteries,  it  could  have  been  made  impossible  for 
any  organized  force  to  cross  the  Neck,  had  the 
British  forces  been  landed  near  this  point,  and 
thus  imprisoned  the  Americans  in  the  peninsula. 

To  attack  the  works  in  front,  to  carry  them 
by  main  force,  to  show  how  little  able  the  rabble 
that  manned  them  was  to  compete  with  the  troops 
of  the  King,  and  to  administer  a  stern  rebuke  wThich 
should  punish  severely  those  actually  in  arms,  and 
admonish  those  whose  loyalty  was  wavering,  was 
more  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  that  prevailed 
in  th$  British  army.  Its  officers  were  smarting 
under  the  disgrace  of  the  retreat  from  Lexington 
and  Concord,  and  would  not  yet  believe  that  they 
had  before  them  foemen  worthy  of  their  steel. 

It  was  soon  after  twelve  o'clock  when  the 
troops  commenced  their  movements  from  the 
North  Battery  and  Long  Wharf  of  Boston,  land 
ing  at  about  one  o'clock  without  molestation  at 
the  extreme  point  of  the,  peninsula,  known  as 
Moulton's  Point.  On  arriving,  Major-General 
Howe,  by  whom  they  were  commanded,  finding 
the  work  more  formidable  than  he  had  antici 
pated,  determined  to  send  for  reinforcements. 
This  delay  was  unwise  ;  for  the  interval,  although 
it  brought  him  additional  troops,  proved  of  far 
more  advantage  to  the  Americans. 

When  the  news  of  the  actual  landing  arrived  at 


THE  BATTLE  OF   BUNKER   HILL.  89 

Cambridge,  a  considerable  body  of  Massachusetts 
troops  was  ordered  towards  Charlestown,  while 
General  Putnam  ordered  forward  those  of  Con 
necticut.  Of  all  these,  however,  comparatively 
few  reached  the  field  before  the  action  was  decided. 
Many  never  reached  Charlestown  at  all ;  others 
delayed  at  Prospect  Hill,  appalled  at  the  tremen 
dous  fire  with  which  the  British  swept  the  Neck ; 
while  others  came  no  farther  than  Bunker  Hill. 

It  was  nearly  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
when,  reinforcements  having  arrived,  all  was 
ready  in  the  British  line  for  the  attack  ;  and  it 
is  time  to  consider  the  character  of  the  defences 
erected,  and  their  position,  as  well  as  the  forces  by 
which  they  were  then  manned.  The  redoubt, 
which  enclosed  the  spot  where  the  monument 
now  stands,  was  upon  the  crest  of  Breed's  Hill, 
—  an  eminence  about  seventy  feet  in  height. 
It  was  about  eight  rods  square,  with  its  front 
towards  the  south,  overlooking  the  town  and 
Charles  River.  Its  southeastern  angle  directly 
faced  Copp's  Hill,  while  its  eastern  side  fronted 
extensive  fields  which  lay  between  it  and  Moul- 
ton's  Point ;  Moulton's  Hill,1  then  about  thirty 
feet  in  height,  but  now  levelled  with  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  was  situated  between  it  and  Moul 
ton's  Point.  The  eastern  side  of  the  redoubt  was 
prolonged  by  a  breastwork  detached  by  a  sally 
port,  which  extended  for  about  one  hundred  yards 
towards  a  marsh  ;  while  the  northern  side  over- 
1  Called  Morton's  Hill  in  all  the  accounts  of  the  battle. 


90  THE   BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

looked  the  Mystic  River,  from  which  it  was  distant 
about  five  hundred  yards. 

For  the  possession  of  this  work  the  conflict 
was  now  about  to  take  place.  It  had,  however, 
been  strengthened  upon  the  side  towards  the 
Mystic  by  a  protection  without  which  it  would 
have  been  untenable  ;  and  this  addition  had 
been  made  while  General  Howe  was  waiting 
for  reinforcements,  by  the  forethought  of  Pres- 
cott,  the  skilful  conduct  of  Knowlton,  and  the 
fortunate  arrival  of  Stark.  Immediately  upon 
the  first  landing,  observing  the  intention  on  the 
part  of  the  British  general  of  moving  along  the 
Mystic,  and  thus  attempting  to  outflank  the  Amer 
icans,  Prescott  had  directed  Knowlton,  with  the 
Connecticut  detachment  and  with  two  field-pieces, 
to  oppose  them.  Captain  Knowlton,  with  his  men, 
who,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  of  the  original 
command  of  Prescott,  moved  about  six  hundred 
feet  to  the  rear  of  the  redoubt  upon  the  side  towards 
the  Mystic,  and  took  a  position  there  near  the 
base  of  Bunker  Hill  properly  so  called,  finding  a 
fence  which  extended  towards  the  Mystic,  the  foun 
dation  of  which  was  of  stone,  and  upon  it  two 
rails.  Rapidly  making,  with  the  materials  he 
found,  another  fence  a  few  feet  distant,  he  filled 
ti  ?  interval  with  grass  from  the  fields  which  the 
mowfct1  of  yesterday  had  passed  over,  but  upon 
which  the  groat  reaper  was  to  gather  to-day  a  rich 
harvest.  While  thus  engaged,  Stark  (a  part  of 
whose  men  were  detained  at  Bunker  Hill  by  Put- 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL.  91 

nam  on  his  proposed  works  there)  followed  closely 
by  Keed,  arrived,  and  perceiving  instantly  the  im 
portance  of  this  position  for  the  defence  of  the 
intrench  men  ts,  —  for  the  way,  as  he  says,  for  the 
enemy  was  "  so  plain  he  could  not  miss  it," 
extended  the  line  of  Knowlton  by  rails  and  stones 
taken  from  adjoining  fences  until  it  reached  the 
river,  making  on  the  extreme  left  on  the  beach  a 
strong  stone  wall.  As  the  rail-fence  was  so  far  to 
the  rear  of  the  redoubt,  there  was  of  course  an  in 
terval,  which  some  slight  attempt  had  been  made 
to  close,  arid  where  also  was  posted  the  artillery' of 
the  Americans,  which,  however,  insufficient  of  itself 
and  feebly  served,  was  of  little  importance  during 
the  action. 

In  the  mean  time,  few  although  the  reinforce 
ments  were,  there  had  now  arrived  some  fresh 
men  to  inspire  with  confidence  those  who  had 
toiled  with  Prescott  through  the  weary  night  and 
exhausting  day  without  food,  drink,  or  rest.  Just 
before  the  battle  actually  commenced,  detachments 
from  the  Massachusetts  regiments  of  Brewer,  Nixon, 
Woodbridge,  Little,  and  Major  Moore  reached  the 
field.  Most  of  these  took  their  place  at  the  breast 
work  on  the  left  of  the  eastern  front  of  the  redoubt, 
and  a  similar  breastwork  more  hastily  made  by 
using  a  cartway  upon  the  right. 

Upon  the  extreme  right  were  posted  a  few 
troops,  extending  towards  the  base  of  the  hill, 
while  two  flanking  parties  were  thrown  out  by 
Prescott  to  harass  the  enemy. 


92  THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER  HILL. 

A  portion  of  the  Massachusetts  troops  who 
arrive  endeavor  to  fill  the  gap  which  exists  be 
tween  the  breastwork  and  the  rail-fence,  while 
yet  a  few  take  their  stand  at  the  rail-fence.  No 
tably  among  these  latter  is  the  veteran  General 
Pomeroy,  of  Northampton,  too  old,  as  he  thinks  a 
few  days  later,  when  he  is  chosen  a  brigadier  by 
the  Continental  Congress,  to  accept  so  responsible 
a  trust,  yet  not  so  old  that  he  cannot  fight  in 
the  ranks,  although  the  weight  of  seventy  years  is 
upon  him.  Later  in  the  day,  when  his  musket  is 
shattered  by  a  shot,  he  waves  the  broken  stock 
in  his  strong  right  hand  as  he  directs  the  men,  — 
a  leader's  truncheon  that  tells  its  own  story  of  the 
bravery  by  which  it  was  won.  All  know  the  brave 
old  man  ;  and  as,  declining  any  command,  he  takes 
his  place  as  a  volunteer,  he  is  greeted  with  hearty 
cheers.  To  the  redoubt  has  now  come  Warren,  in 
the  spirit  of  a  true  soldier,  who,  having  advised 
against  a  plan  which  has  been  adopted,  feels  the 
more  called  upon  to  make  every  effort  that  it  shall 
succeed.  The  enthusiasm  with  which  he  is  re 
ceived  indicates  at  once  the  inspiration  and  encour 
agement  that  the  men  all  feel  in  that  gallant 
presence  ;  but  when  Prescott  offers  him  the  com 
mand,  he  having  three  days  before  been  appointed 
a  major-general  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  he  de 
clines  it,  saying,  "  I  come  as  a  volunteer  to  serve 
under  you,  and  shall  be  happy  to  learn  from  a  sol 
dier  of  your  experience." 

The  peninsula  where  the  struggle  was  to  take 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER    HILL.  93 

place  was  in  full  view  across  the  calm  waters  of 
the  harbor,  and  of  the  Charles  and  Mystic  rivers, 
whose  banks  were  lined  with  people,  who  with 
mournful  and  anxious  hearts  awaited  the  issue, 
while  each  house-top  in  the  town  was  covered  with 
eager  spectators.  From  Copp's  Hill,  General  Gage, 
with  Burgoyne  and  Clinton,  surrounded  by  troops, 
ready  themselves  to  move  at  an  instant's  warning, 
watched  the  onset  of  his  forces. 

The  champions  are  not  unworthy  of  the  arena  in 
which  they  stand.  To  those  who  love  the  pomp 
and  circumstance  of  war,  the  British  troops  pre 
sent  a  splendid  array.  The  brilliant  light  flashes 
back  from  the  scarlet  uniforms,  the  showy  equip 
ments,  the  glittering  arms;  and  as  they  move, 
there  is  seen  the  effect  of  that  discipline  whose 
object  is  to  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  one  who 
commands  the  strength  and  courage  of  the  thou 
sands  whom  he  leads.  They  are  of  the  best  and 
most  tried  troops  of  the  British  army ;  and  some 
of  the  regiments  have  won  distinguished  honor  on 
the  battle-fields  of  Europe,  in  the  same  wars 
in  which  the  colonies  had  poured  out  their  blood 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  in  hearty  and  gener 
ous  support  of  the  British  Crown.  Their  veteran 
officers  are  men  who  have  seen  service  in  Europe 
and  America  ;  and  their  younger  officers,  like  Lord 
Rawdon  and  Lord  Harris,  bear  names  afterwards 
distinguished  in  the  chronicles  of  British  warfare. 
The  second  in  command  is  Brigadier-General  Pigot, 
slight  in  person,  but  known  as  an  officer  of  spirit 


94  THE   BATTLE  OF   BUNKER   HILL. 

and  judgment  ;  and  their  leader,  Major-General 
Howe,  bears  a  name  which  has  been  loved  and 
honored  in  America.  The  monument  which  Massa 
chusetts  reared  in  Westminster  Abbey  to  his  elder 
brother,  Lord  Howe,  who  fell  while  leading  a  col 
umn  of  British  and  Americans  at  Ticonderoga  in 
1758,  still  stands  to  inscribe  his  name  among  the 
heroes  of  England,  whose  fame  is  guarded  and 
enshrined  within  that  ancient  pile.  Above  their 
lines  waves  the  great  British  ensign,  to  which  the 
colonies  have  always  looked  as  the  emblem  of  their 
country ;  and  with  them  is  the  "  King's  name," 
which  even  yet  is  a  tower  of  strength  in  the  land. 
As  nearly  as  we  can  estimate,  they  number  about 
four  thousand  men.  General  Gage's  report  indi 
cates  sufficiently  that  he  does  not  intend  to  state 
the  number  engaged  when  he  is  compelled  later 
to  acknowledge  the  casualties  of  the  day. 

Upon  the  other  side  a  different  scene  presents 
itself.  As  the  battle  is  about  to  open,  at  the 
redoubt  and  upon  its  flanks  are  the  troops  of 
Massachusetts  ;  at  the  rail-fence  are  the  troops  of 
Connecticut  and  those  of  New  Hampshire,  with  a 
few  men  of  Massachusetts.  How  many  there  were 
in  all  cannot  be  determined  with  accuracy.  Regi 
ments  that  are  frequently  spoken  of  as  being  pres 
ent  at  the  engagement  were  represented  by  bat 
weak  detachments.  Towards  the  close  of  the  bat 
tle  a  few  more  arrive,  but  not  more  than  enough 
to  make  the  place  good  of  the  losses  that  have  in 
the  mean  time  occurred.  No  judgment  can  be 


THE  BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  95 

formed  more  accurate  than  that  of  Washington, 
who  was  so  soon  after  with  the  army,  when  many 
of  the  circumstances  were  investigated,  and  whose 
mature  and  carefully  considered  opinion  was  that 
at  no  time  upon  our  side  were  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  men  actually  engaged. 

As  we  look  down  the  line,  there  are  symptoms 
everywhere  of  determination  ;  for  such  has  been 
the  confusion,  and  so  little  has  been  the  command 
which,  in  their  movements,  the  officers  have  been 
able  to  exercise,  that  no  man  is  there  who  does  not 
mean  to  be  there.  A  few  free  colored  men  are  in 
the  ranks,  who  do  good  service  ;  but  it  is  a  gath 
ering  almost  exclusively  of  the  yeomanry  of  New 
England,  men  of  the  English  race  and  blood,  who 
stand  there  that  day  because  there  has  been  an 
attempt  to  invade  their  rights  as  Englishmen,  — 
rights  guaranteed  by  their  charters,  and  yet  older 
than  the  Magna  Charta  itself.  There  are  no  uni 
forms  to  please  the  eye  ;  but  as  the  cowl  does  not 
make  the  monk,  so  the  uniform  does  not  make 
the  soldier ;  and  in  their  rustic  garb  they  will 
show  themselves  worthy  of  the  name  before  the 
day  is  done.  .  No  flag  waves  above  their  heads  ; 
for  they  are  this  day  without  a  country,  and  they 
fight  that  they  may  have  one,  although  they  could 
not  have  dreamed  that  the  emblem  of  its  sover 
eignty  should  float  as  it  now  does  over  millions  of 
freemen  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  far  Pacific.  The 
equipments  and  arms  are  of  all  descriptions ;  but 
those  who  carry  them  know  their  use,  and  all, 


96  THE   BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

more  or  less  skilled  as  marksmen,  mean  in  their 
stern  economy  of  powder,  which  is  their  worst 
deficiency,  that  every  shot  shall  tell.  There  is 
little  discipline  ;  but  it  is  not  an  unwarlike  popu 
lation.  Among  the  men  are  scattered  those  who 
do  not  look  for  the  first  time  on  the  battle-field  ; 
and  in  every  man  is  that  sense  of  individual  re 
sponsibility  and  duty  which  to  some  extent  takes 
the  place  of  discipline,  —  that  proud  self-conscious 
ness  that  animates  those  who  know  that  their  own^ 
right  hands  must  work  their  own  deliverance. 
Poorly  officered  in  some  respects, — for  haste  and 
bad  management  have  put  many  important  posts 
into  inefficient  hands,  —  there  are  also  with  them 
officers  who  from  experience  and  ability  might  be 
well  counted  as  leaders  on  any  field.  They  are 
New  England  men,  fully  understanding  those  they 
command,  and  exercising  an  influence  by  force  of 
their  own  characters,  by  their  self-devotion  and 
enthusiasm,  which  cause  all  around  them  to  yield 
respectful  and  affectionate  obedience. 

Roughly  done,  the  works  they  have  hastily 
made  are  yet  formidable,  the  weakest  part  being 
the  imperfectly  closed  gap  between  the  breast 
work  and  the  rail-fence. 

At  the  rail-fence,  and  on  the  extreme  left,  is 
Stark,  distinguished  afterwards  by  the  battle  of 
Bennington  ;  he  has  shown  the  quick  eye  and 
ready  hand  of  the  practised  soldier  by  the  celerity 
with  which  he  has  extended  this  line  to  the  Mystic 
River.  Knowlton  is  there  also,  still  with  the  Con- 


THE   BATTLE    OF   BUNKER   HILL.  97 

necticut  men,  as  yet  but  little  reinforced,  whose 
resolute  conduct  of  this  day  deserves  the  same 
eulogy  which  it  received  from  Washington,  when, 
a  year  later,  he  fell  gloriously  fighting  on  Har 
lem  Heights  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  that  "  it 
would  have  been  an  honor  to  any  country."  Gen 
eral  Putnam,  an  officer  of  tried  courage  and  of 
energetic  character,  has  come  to  share  in  the 
danger  of  the  assault,  now  that  it  is  evidently 
approaching,  and  is  everywhere  along  this  portion 
of  the  line,  inspiring,  encouraging,  and  sustaining 
the  men.  All  these,  like  Pomeroy,  are  veteran 
soldiers,  who  have  served  in  the  wars  with  France 
and  her  savage  allies ;  and  it  is  a  sundering  of  old 
ties  to  see  the  British  flag  upon  the  other  side. 

At  the  redoubt,  sustained  by  Warren,  stands  the 
commander  of  the  expedition  which  has  fortified 
Breed's  Hill.  He  has  himself  served  in  the  pro 
vincial  forces  of  Massachusetts,  under  the  British 
flag,  and  that  so  bravely  that  he  has  been  offered 
a  commission  in  the  regular  army,  but  he  has  pre 
ferred  the  life  of  a  farmer  and  magistrate  in  Mid 
dlesex.  His  large  and  extensive  influence  he  has 
given  to  the  patriotic  cause,  and  he  has  been  recog 
nized  from  the  first  as  one  of  those  men  qualified 
to  command.  Powerful  in  person,  with  an  easy 
humor  which  has  cheered  and  inspired  with  con 
fidence  all  who  are  around  him,  he  waits  the  issue 
with  a  calmness  and  courage  that  will  not  fail  him 
in  the  most  desperate  moment.  The  hour  that 
he  has  expected  has  come  ;  and  the  gage  of  battle, 

7 


98  THE  BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL. 

so  boldly  thrown  down  by  the  erection  of  the 
redoubt,  has  been  lifted. 

As  the  British  army  moved  to  the  attack,  it  was 
in  two  wings, — the  first  arranged  directly  to  assail 
the  redoubt,  and  led  by  Pigot,  while  the  other, 
commanded  by  General  Howe  in  person,  was  di 
vided  into  two  distinct  columns,  one  of  which, 
composed  of  light  infantry,  was  close  to  the  bank 
of  the  river,  and  was  intended  to  turn  the  extreme 
left  of  our  line,  and  with  the  column  in  front  of 
the  rail-fence  to  drive  the  Americans  from  their 
position,  and  cut  off  the  retreat  of  those  in  the 
redoubt. 

In  his  account  of  the  battle,  General  Burgoyne 
observes,  "  Howe's  disposition  was  exceedingly 
soldier-like ;  in  my  opinion  it  was  perfect."  But 
the  arrangements  for  the  battle  do  not,  in  a 
military  point  of  view,  deserve  such  high  com 
mendation.  It  was  clearly  an  error  on  the  part 
of  General  Howe  to  divide  his  forces,  and  make 
two  points  of  attack  instead  of  one,  and  an  equal 
error  to  move  tip  and  deploy  his  columns  to  fire,  in 
which  his  troops  were  at  obvious  disadvantage 
from  their  want  of  protection,  instead  of  making 
an  assault  without  firing.  He  had  failed  also 
to  recognize  the  weak  point  in  the  line  between 
the  breastwork  and  the  rail-fence,  easier  to  carry 
than  any  other  point,  and,  if  carried,  more  certain 
to  involve  the  whole  American  force.  He  had 
sluggishly  permitted  the  erection  of  the  formi 
dable  fieldwork  of  the  rail-fence,  the  whole  of 


THE  BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL.  99 

which  had  been  constructed  without  any  interfer 
ence  subsequent  to  his  arrival  on  the  peninsula  ; 
nor,  when  it  was  constructed,  does  it  seem  to  have 
occurred  to  him  that  by  a  floating  battery  or  gun 
boat  stationed  in  the  Mystic  River,  it  could  have 
been  enfiladed,  and  the  force  there  dislodged  at 
once. 

As  the  British  are  seen  to  advance,  the  orders 
are  renewed  along  the  whole  American  line  in  a 
hundred  different  forms  not  to  fire  until  the 
enemy  are  within  ten  or  twelve  rods,  and  then 
to  wait  for  the  word,  to  use  their  skill  as  marks 
men,  and  to  make  every  shot  tell.  For  although 
those  at  the  intrenchments  and  rail-fence  act 
without  immediate  concert,  the  scarcity  of  pow 
der,  and  the  fact  that  they  are  without  bayonets 
and  can  rely  only  upon  their  bullets,  is  known 
to  all.  It  had  been  intended  to  cover  the  move 
ment  of  the  British  by  a  discharge  of  artillery  ; 
but  the  balls  were,  by  some  mistake  of  the 
ordnance  officer,  found  too  large  for  the  guns, 
and  afterwards,  when  loaded  with  grape,  it  was 
found  impossible  to  draw  them  through  the  miry 
ground,  so  that  they  afforded,  in  the  first  assault, 
no  substantial  assistance. 

The  forces  of  Pigot  moved  slowly  forward, 
impeded  by  the  heavy  knapsacks  they  were  en 
cumbered  with,  and  by  the  fences  which  divided 
the  fields,  and  continued  to  fire  as  they  thus  ad 
vanced.  As  they  got  within  gun-shot,  although 
their  fire  had  done  but  little  damage,  our  men  could 


100  THE   BATTLE    OF   BUNKER   HILL. 

not  entirely  restrain  their  impatience  ;  but  as  some 
fired,  Prescott,  sternly  rebuking  the  disorder,  ap 
pealed  to  their  confidence  in  him,  and  some  of  his 
officers,  springing  upon  the  parapet,  kicked  up  the 
guns  that  rested  upon  it,  so  that  the  men  might  be 
sure  to  wait.  This  efficient  remonstrance  had  its 
effect ;  and  the  enemy  met  within  ten  or  twelve 
rods  of  the  eastern  front  of  the  breastworks  when 
the  voice  of  Prescott  uttered  the  words  for  which 
every  ear  was  listening,  and  the  stream  of  fire, 
which,  by  its  terrible  carnage,  checked  at  once  the 
advance,  broke  from  his  line.  The  attacking  lines 
were  old  troops,  and  well  led  ;  our  fire  was  at  once 
sternly  returned,  but  they  did  not  rush  on,  and  in 
a  few  moments  Pigot  ordered  his  men,  wavering 
and  staggering  under  a  fire  which  was  murderous, 
while  their  own  did  little  execution,  to  fall  back. 

In  the  mean  time  General  Howe,  after  un 
successfully  endeavoring  with  a  column  of  light 
infantry  to  turn  the  extreme  left  of  our  line  on 
the  Mystic,  advanced  with  the  grenadiers  directly 
in  front  of  the  rail-fence ;  and,  somewhat  an 
noyed  by  the  artillery  between  the  breastwork 
and  the  rail-fence,  which  here,  directed  by  Put 
nam,  did  its  best  service,  Howe,  as  he  approached 
within  eighty  or  one  hundred  yards,  deployed 
his  forces  into  line.  As  at  the  redoubt,  in  eager 
ness,  some  of  our  men  fired,  when  the  officers 
threatened  to  cut  down  the  first  man  who  dis 
obeyed  ;  and  thus  rebuked,  they  restrained  them 
selves  until  the  prescribed  distance  was  reached, 


THE  BATTLE   OF  BUl?Ktt£  iltLt,.  101 

when  their  fire  was  delivered  with  such  telling 
effect  that,  broken  and  disarranged,  the  attacking 
force,  alike  that  directly  in  front  and  that  upon 
the  banks  of  the  river,  recoiled  before  it,  while 
many  of  the  British  officers  felt  the  deadly  result 
of  the  superiority  which  the  Americans  possessed 
as  marksmen. 

Some  minutes,  perhaps  fifteen,  now  intervene 
before  the  second  assault,  which  are  moments  of 
enthusiastic  joy  in  the  American  lines.  All  see 
that  they  are  led  by  men  capable  of  directing 
them,  that  they  have  rudely  hurled  back  the  first 
onset,  and  that  they  are  not  contending  against 
those  who  are  invincible.  As  they  have  seen 
their  enemy  turn,  some  of  them  at  the  rail-fence 
in  their  eagerness  have  sprung  over  it  to  pursue, 
but  have  been  restrained  by  the  wisdom  of  their 
officers.  At  the  redoubt,  Prescott,  certain  that 
the  enemy  will  soon  re-form  and  again  attack, 
while  he  commends  the  men  for  their  courage 
and  congratulates  them  on  their  success,  urges 
them  to  wait  again  for  his  order  before  they  fire. 
Putnam  hastens  from  the  lines,  his  object  being  to 
forward  reinforcements,  and  to  arrange,  if  possi 
ble,  a  new  line  of  defence  at  Bunker  Hill,  prop 
erly  so  called,  where  all  was  in  confusion,  the 
men  who  had  reached  there  being  for  the  most 
part  entirely  disorganized. 

The  horror  of  the  bloody  field  is  now  height 
ened  by  the  burning  of  the  prosperous  town  of 
Charlestown.  This  had  been  threatened  as  early 


V     -     :  «  •-        »      fce     <•     c        I 

102  THE   BATTLE   OF    BUNKER   HILL. 

as  April  21  by  General  Gage,  if  the  American 
forces  occupied  the  town  ;  and  the  patriotic  in 
habitants  had  informed  General  Ward  that  they 
desired  him  to  conduct  his  military  operations 
without  regard  to  their  safety.  Complaining  of 
the  annoyance  which  the  sharpshooters  posted 
along  the  edges  of  the  town  gave  to  his  troops  on 
the  extreme  left,  General  Howe  has  requested  that 
it  be  fired,  which  was  done  by  the  cannon  from 
Copp's  Hill.  It  may  be  also,  as  was  afterwards 
said,  that  Howe  was  under  the  impression  that  his 
assaulting  columns  would  be  covered  by  the  smoke. 
The  smoke  drifts,  however,  in  the  other  direction  ; 
and  the  provincials  behold  without  dismay  a  deed 
which  indicates  the  ruthless  mode  in  which  the  war 
is  to  be  prosecuted.  As  the  enemy  advance  to  the. 
second  assault,  their  fire  is  more  effective.  At 
the  redoubt,  Colonels  Buckminster,  Brewer,  and 
Nixon  are  wounded  ;  Major  Moore  mortally.  No 
general  result  is  produced  ;  and  again,  as  they 
reach  the  distance  prescribed,  the  fire  of  the 
Americans,  directed  simultaneously  along  the 
whole  length  of  the  line,  alike  of  the  redoubt 
and  breastwork  as  well  as  the  rail-fence,  is  even 
more  destructive  than  before.  Standing  the  first 
shock,  the  enemy  continue  to  advance  and  fire 
still ;  but  against  so  rapid  and  effective  a  wave  as 
they  now  receive,  it  is  impossible  to  hold  their 
ground,  and  although  their  officers,  themselves  the 
worst  sufferers,  are  seen  frantically  summoning 
them  to  their  duty,  all  is  in  vain,  —  they  are  swept 


THE  BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL.  103 

back  in  complete  confusion.  General  Howe, 
opposite  the  rail-fence,  is  in  the  fiercest  and 
thickest ;  left  almost  alone,  as  his  officers  are 
struck  down  around  him,  he  is  borne  along  by 
the  current  of  the  retreat  rather  than  directs  it. 

This  time  the  repulse  was  terrific.  "  In  front 
of  our  works,"  says  Prescott,  "  the  ground  was 
covered  with  the  killed  and  wounded,  many  of 
them  within  a  few  yards,"  while  before  the  rail- 
fence  "  the  dead,"  in  the  homely  phrase  of  Stark, 
"  lay  thick  as  sheep  in  a  fold."  Disorder  reigned 
in  the  British  ranks  ;  to  stay  the  rout  was  for  the 
moment  impossible,  as  many  of  the  companies  had 
entirely  lost  their  officers,  and  for  a  short  time 
it  seemed  that  they  could  not  rally  again.  Had 
there  been  a  reserve  of  fresh  troops  now  to 
advance  (which  there  might  have  been,  had  it 
been  possible  to  organize  the  scattered  detachments 
which  had  already  reached  Bunker  Hill),  or  even 
proper  support  and  reinforcement,  the  conflict 
would  have  ended  by  a  victory  so  complete  that 
perhaps  it  would  have  been  accepted  as  putting  an 
end  to  the  British  power  in  America. 

Before  the  third  assault  some  reinforcements 
reached  the  rail-fence,  especially  three  Connecticut 
companies  -under  Major  Durkee,  and  a  portion  of 
Gardner's  regiment  from  Middlesex,  the  colonel  of 
which  was  killed  during  the  engagement.  A  part 
of  this  regiment  was  detained  by  Putnam  on  his 
proposed  work  at  Bunker  Hill.  The  company  of 
Josiah  Harris,  of  Charlestown,  took  its  post  at  the 


104  THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

extreme  left  of  our  line  at  the  rail-fence,  and  won 
for  its  native  town  the  honor,  when  the  retreat 
commenced,  of  being  the  last  to  leave  the  field. 

To  the  redoubt  and  breastwork  no  reinforce 
ments  came ;  and  although  the  determined  and 
remarkable  man  who  conducted  its  defence  may 
well  have  been  disappointed  at  this  failure,  no 
word  of  discouragement  escaped  his  lips.  He 
knew  well  the  duty  which  as  an  officer  he  owed 
his  men,  and  at  another  time  might  have  felt  that 
he  ought  to  retreat  from  a  position,  the  chance  of 
holding  which  was  so  slight  ;  yet  there  was  still  a 
chance,  and  he  comprehended  fully  that  on  that 
day  it  was  not  a  question  of  strategy  or  manoeu 
vre,  but  of  the  determination  and  courage  of  the 
American  people  in  the  assertion  of  their  freedom, 
which  was  there  bloodily  debated.  Calm  and 
resolute,  cheerful  still  in  outward  demeanor,  he 
moved  around  his  lines,  assuring  his  men,  "  If  we 
drive  them  back  again,  they  cannot  rally  ;  "  and 
inspired  by  their  confidence  in  him,  they  answer 
enthusiastically,  "\Ye  are  ready." 

No  supplies  of  powder  have  been  received,  arid 
there  are  not  in  his  whole  command  fifty 
bayonets,  so  that  if  the  fire  shall  slacken,  and  the 
enemy  force  their  way  through  it,  resistance  is 
impossible.  No  man  has  over  three  rounds  of 
ammunition,  and  many  only  two ;  and  when  a 
few  artillery  cartridges  are  discovered,  the  powder 
in  them  is  distributed  with  the  injunction  that 
not  a  kernel  should  be  wasted. 


THE   BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL.  105 

Discipline,  which  at  such  moments  will  always 
tell,  in  perhaps  half  an  hour  has  done  its  work 
among  the  British  troops ;  and  no  longer  self- 
confident,  but  realizing  the  terrible  work  before 
them,  the  men  are  throwing  off  knapsacks  for  a  final 
and  desperate  assault.  Some  have  remonstrated  ; 
but  Sir  William,  less  attractive  than  his  brother, 
General  Lord  Howe,  less  able  than  his  brother, 
Admiral  Lord  Howe,  who  now  bears  the  family 
title,  is  a  stern  soldier,  and  in  personal  courage 
and  determination  in  no  way  unworthy  of  the 
martial  race  to  which  he  belongs.  He  feels  that 
his  own  reputation  and  that  of  the  soldiers  he 
commands  is  ruined  forever  if  they  sustain  defeat 
at  the  hands  of  a  band  of  half-armed  rustics. 
Victory  itself  will  now  be  attended  with  mortifi 
cation  enough,  after  such  severe  repulses  and  such 
terrible  losses. 

From  the  other  side  of  the  river  General  Clinton 
has  seen  the  discomfiture,  and,  bringing  some 
reinforcements,  comes  to  aid  in  rallying  the  men. 
Howe  has  seen,  too,  what  Clinton  has  also  ob 
served,  the  error  of  the  former  disposition  of  his 
force,  and  that  the  weak  point  of  the  American 
line  is  between  the  breastwork  and  the  rail-fence. 
Towards  this  and  against  the  redoubt  and  breast 
work  he  now  arranges  his  next  attack.  Cannon 
are  brought  to  bear  so  as  to  rake  the  inside  of  the 
breastwork ;  and  making  a  demonstration  only 
against  the  rail-fence  that  may  check  any  move 
ment  upon  the  flank  of  his  troops,  he  divides  them 
into  three  columns. 


106  THE  BATTLE   OF   BUNKER  HILL. 

The  two  at  the  left  are  commanded  respectively 
by  Clinton  and  Pigot,  while  the  right  he  leads  in 
person.  They  are  to  assault  together, — Clinton 
upon  the  left,  at  the  southeastern  angle,  and 
Pigot  upon  the  eastern  front  of  the  redoubt,  while 
Howe's  own  force  is  to  carry  the  breastwork,  and 
striking  between  it  and  the  rail-fence,  bar  the  way 
of  retreat.  Against  this  formidable  array  no  other 
preparation  can  be  made  by*  Prescott  than  to 
place  at  the  angles  of  his  redoubt  the  few  bayo 
nets  at  his  disposal,  and  to  direct  that  no  man 
shall  fire  until  the  enemy  are  within  twenty 
yards. 

The  fire  of  the  British  artillery,  now  rendered 
effective,  sweeps  the  inside  of  the  breastwork,  and, 
no  longer  tenable,  its  defenders  crowd  within  the 
redoubt.  Again  the  voice  of  Prescott  is  heard,  as 
the  attacking  columns  approach  and  are  now  only 
twenty  yards  distant,  giving  the  order  to  fire.  So 
telling  and  deadly  is  the  discharge  that  the  front 
ranks  are  almost  prostrated  by  it  ;  but  as  the  fire 
slackens,  the  British  columns,  which  have  wavered 
for  an  instant,  move  steadily  on  without  returning 
it.  Almost  simultaneously  upon  the  three  points 
which  are  exposed  to  the  assault  the  enemy  reach 
the  little  earthwork  which  so  much  brave  blood 
has  been  spent  to  hold  and  to  gain  ;  and  while 
they  are  now  so  near  that  its  sides  already  cover 
them,  its  commander,  determined  to  maintain  it  to 
the  last  extremity,  orders  those  of  his  men  who 
have  no  bayonets  to  retire  to  the  rear  and  fire 
upon  the  enemy  as  they  mount  the  parapet. 


I 

THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL.  107 

Those  who  first  ascend  are  shot  down  as  they 
scale  the  works,  among  them  Pitcairn,  whose 
rashness  (even  if  we  give  him  the  benefit  of  the 
denial  lie  always  made  of  having  ordered  his 
soldiers  to  fire  at  Lexington)  still  renders  him 
responsible  for  the  first  shedding  of  blood  in  the 
strife.  In  a  few  moments,  however,  the  redoubt 
is  half  filled  by  the  storming  columns ;  and 
although  a  fierce  conflict  ensues,  it  is  too  unequal 
for  hope,  and  shows  only  the  courage  which 
animates  the  men,  who,  without  bayonets,  use  the 
butts  of  their  muskets  in  the  h'erce  effort  to  stay 
the  now  successful  assault.  As  the  enemy  are 
closing  about  the  redoubt,  if  the  force  is  to  be 
extricated  from  capture,  the  word  to  retreat  must 
be  given  ;  and  reluctantly  the  brave  lips  which 
have  hitherto  spoken  only  the  words  of  cheer  and 
encouragement  utter  it  at  last.  Already  some  are 
so  involved  that  they  hew  their  way  through  the 
enemy  to  join  Prescott,  and  he  himself  is  again 
and  again  struck  at  by  the  bayonet,  of  which  his 
clothes  give  full  proof  afterwards,  but  defends  him 
self  with  his  sword,  —  the  use  of  which  he  under 
stands.  As  our  forces  leave  the  redoubt  by  the 
entrance  on  the  northern  side,  they  come  between 
the  two  columns  which  have  turned  the  breast 
work,  and  the  southeastern  angle  of  the  redoubt. 
These  are,  however,  too  much  exhausted  to  use 
the  bayonet  effectually,  and  all  are  so  mingled 
together  that  for  a  few  moments  the  British 
cannot  fire  ;  but  as  our  men  extricate  themselves, 


108  THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER  HILL. 

the  British  re-form,  and  deliver  a  heavy  fire  upon 
them  as  they  retreat. 

In  the  mean  time  the  attack  has  been  renewed 
upon  the  rail-fence,  but  its  defenders  know  well 
that  if  they  would  save  their  countrymen  at  the 
redoubt,  they  must  hold  it  resolutely  for  a  few 
moments  longer,  and  they  defend  it  nobly,  resist 
ing  every  attempt  to  turn  the  flank.  They  see 
soon  that  Prescott  has  left  the  hill,  that  the 
intrench inents  are  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  at 
last ;  and,  their  own  work  gallantly  done,  they 
retreat  in  better  order  than  could  have  been  ex 
pected  of  troops  who  have  so  little  organization,  and 
who  have  looked  for  the  first  time  on  a  battle-field. 
Upon  the  crest  of  Bunker  Hill  (properly  so  called) 
General  Putnam,  with  the  confused  forces  already 
there,  gallantly  struggles  to  organize  a  line  and 
make  a  new  stand,  but  without  success.  Our 
forces  recross  the  neck  and  occupy  Ploughed  Hill, 
now  Mount  Benedict,  at  its  head  ;  but  there  is  no 
disposition  on  the  part  of  the  British  to  pursue, 
for  the  terrible  slaughter  too  well  attests  the 
price  at  which  the  nominal  victory  has  been 
obtained. 

The  loss  of  the  British,  according  to  General 
Gage's  account,  was  in  killed  and  wounded  1,054  ; 
and  it  was  generally  believed  that  this  was  under 
stated  by  him.  There  was  inducement  enough  to 
do  this  ;  for  so  disastrous  was  his  despatch  felt  to 
be  that  the  government  hesitated  to  give  it  to  the 
public,  until  forced  to  do  so  by  the  taunts  of  those 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL.  109 

who  had  opposed  the  war,  and  the  methods  by 
which  it  had  been  provoked. 

Sir  William  Howe  seemed  to  have  borne  that 
day  a  charmed  life  ;  for  while  ten  officers  of  his 
staff  were  among  the  killed  and  wounded,  he  had 
escaped  substantially  uninjured.  His  white  silk 
stockings,  draggled  with  the  crimson  stain  of  the 
grass,  wet  with  the  blood  of  his  men,  attested  that 
he  had  kept  the  promise  made  to  them  on  the 
beach,  that  he  should  ask  no  man  to  go  farther 
than  he  was  prepared  to  lead. 

On  the  American  side,  the  loss,  as  reported  by 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  was  in  killed  and 
wounded  449,  by  far  the  larger  part  of  these 
casualties  occurring  in  the  capture  of  the  redoubt, 
and  after  the  retreat  had  commenced.  Prescott, 
who,  in  the  hours  that  had  passed  since  he 
left  Cambridge,  had  done  for  the  independence 
of  his  country  work  that  the  greatest  might 
well  be  satisfied  with  doing  in  a  lifetime,  was 
unhurt ;  but  Warren  had  fallen,  than  whom  no 
man  in  America  could  have  been  more  deeply 
deplored. 

Massachusetts  in  her  Congress,  and  the  citizens 
of  all  the  colonies,  united  in  doing  honor  to  his 
heroic  self-sacrifice  and  pure,  noble  fame ;  but  no 
eulogy  was  more  graceful  than  that  of  Mrs.  John 
Adams,  herself  one  of  the  most  interesting  figures 
of  the  Revolution,  or  more  touching  than  that 
of  the  warm-hearted  Pomeroy,  who  lamented  the 
caprice  of  that  fortune  which  had  spared  him  in 


110  THE   BATTLE    OF   BUNKER   HILL. 

the  day  of  battle,  —  an  old  war-worn  soldier  whose 
work  was  nearly  done,  —  and  taken  Warren  in  the 
brightness  of  his  youth,  and  with  his  vast  capacity 
to  serve  his  country.  Yet  for  him,  who  shall  say 
it  was  not  well  ?  There  are  many  things  in 
life  dearer  than  life  itself  :  honor  in  its  true  and 
noble  sense,  patriotism,  duty,  all  are  dearer ;  to  all 
these  he  had  been  faithful.  His  position  is  for 
ever  among  the  heroes  and  martyrs  of  liberty  ; 
his  reward  forever  in  the  affection  of  a  grateful 
people.  As  the  dead  always  bear  to  us  the  image 
which  they  last  bore  when  on  earth,  and  as  by 
the  subtile  power  of  the  imagination  we  summon 
before  us  the  brave  men  who  stood  here  for  their 
country,  that  noble  presence,  majestic  in  its  manly 
beauty,  seems  to  rise  again,  although  a  hundred 
years  are  gone,  with  all  the  fire  of  his  burning 
eloquence,  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  patriotic  en 
thusiasm,  with  all  the  loftiness  of  his  generous 
self-devotion.  So  shall  it  seem  to  rise,  although 
centuries  more  shall  pass,  to  inspire  his  country 
men  in  every  hour  of  doubt  and  trial  with  a  valor 
and  patriotism  kindred  to  his  own. 

The  story  I  have  told,  fellow-citizens,  has  been 
often  related  before  }'ou  far  more  vividly  ;  nor  has 
it  been  in  my  power  to  add  anything  to  the  facts 
which  patient  and  loving  investigation  has  long 
since  brought  to  light.  Tested  by  the  simple  ruje 
that  whoever  holds  or  gains  the  ground  fought  for 
wins  the  victory,  the  battle  was,  of  course,  a  de 
feat  for  the  provincial  forces ;  but  it  was  a  defeat 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL.  Ill 

that  carried  and  deserved  to  carry  with  it  all  the 
moral  consequences  of  a  victory.  As  General  Bur- 
goyne  gazed  from  Copp's  Hill  on  the  scene  which 
he  so  graphically  describes  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Stan 
ley,  he  was  saddened,  he  says,  by  "  the  reflection 
that  perhaps  a  defeat  would  be  a  final  loss  to  the 
British  Empire  in  America ; "  but  although  the 
battle  was  in  his  eyes  a  victory,  it  was  one  which 
equally  marked  a  loss  to  that  Empire. 

The  lesson  drawn  from  it  was  the  same  both  in 
Europe  and  America.  "England,"  wrote  Franklin, 
"has  lost  her  colonies  forever; "  and  Washington, 
as  he  listened  with  intense  interest  to  the  narrative, 
and  heard  that  the  troops  he  was  coming  to  com 
mand  had  not  only  withstood  the  fire  of  the  regulars, 
but  had  again  and  again  repulsed  them,  renewed 
his  expressions  of  confidence  in  final  success. 

In  England  the  news  was  received  with  morti 
fication  and  astonishment ;  no  loss  so  serious  in 
proportion  to  the  number  engaged  had  ever  been 
known  ;  and  in  the  excited  debates  of  the  Parlia 
ment  it  was  afterwards  alleged  to  have  been  caused 
by  the  misbehavior  of  the  troops  themselves. 
The  charge  was  certainly  unjust ;  for  whatever 
may  be  thought  of  his  own  management,  the 
troops  he  directed  deserved  the  praise  that  General 
Gage  gave  them  when  he  said,  "  British  valor  had 
never  been  more  conspicuous  than  in  this  action." 
From  his  eyes  the  scales  seemed  to  have  fallen  at 
last;  and,  closely  beleaguered  still,  even  after  the 
victory  he  claimed  to  have  won,  he  acknowledged 


112  THE    BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

that  the  people  of  New  England  were  not  "  the 
despicable  rabble  they  had  sometimes  been  re 
presented,"  and  recognized  that  an  offensive  cam 
paign  here  was  not  possible. 

The  shrewd  Count  Vergennes,  who,  in  the  hour 
of  the  humiliation  of  France  by  the  loss  of  her 
colonial  possessions,  had  predicted  that  she  would 
be  avenged  by  those  whose  hands  had  largely- 
wrought  it,  and  that  as  the  colonies  no  longer 
needed  the  protection  of  Great  Britain,  they  would 
end  by  shaking  off  all  dependence  upon  her,  was 
now  the  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and 
keenly  remarked  that  "  if  it  won  two  more  such 
victories  as  it  had  won  at  Bunker  Hill,  there  would 
be  no  British  army  in  America." 

The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  consolidated  the 
Kevolution.  Had  the  result  been  different ;  had  it 
been  shown  that  the  hasty,  ill-disciplined  levies  of 
New  England  could  not  stand  before  the  troops  of 
the  King  (or  the  ministerial  troops,  as  our  official 
documents  qalled  them) ;  had  the  easy  victory  over 
them,  which  had  been  foolishly  promised,  been 
weakly  conceded,  —  the  cause  of  independence 
might  have  been  indefinitely  postponed.  Nay,  it 
is  not  impossible  that  armed  resistance  might  for 
the  time  have  ended,  and  that  other  colonies  not 
so  deeply  involved  in  the  contest  might  have  ex 
tricated  themselves,  each  making  such  terms  as 
it  pleased  or  as  it  could.  But  the  coolness  and 
splendid  valor  with  which  the  best  troops  then 
known  had  been  met,  the  repulses  which  they  had 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL.  113 

again  and  again  encountered,  the  bloody  and  fear 
ful  cost  at  which  they  had  finally  carried  the 
coveted  point  which  their  opponents  yielded 
only  when  ammunition  utterly  failed,  had  shown 
that  the  yeomanry  of  New  England  were  the  true 
descendants  of  that  race  who,  on  the  battle-fields 
of  England,  had  stood  against  and  triumphed  over 
King  Charles  and  his  cavaliers.  "  New  England 
alone,"  said  John  Adams,  "  can  maintain  this  war 
for  years."  He  was  right;  the  divisions  that  ex 
isted  elsewhere  were  practically  unknown  here  ;  no 
matter  what  colonies  hesitated  or  doubted,  the  path 
of  New  England  was  straightforward,  and  her  goal 
was  independence.  While  her  colonies  deferred  to 
the  Continental  Congress  the  form  of  general  gov 
ernment  which  should  be  adopted,  each  had  taken 
into  its  own  hands  all  the  powers  that  rightfully 
belong  to  sovereign  States,  and  exercised  them 
through  its  provincial  Congress  and  its  commit 
tees.  Heartily  desiring  and  eagerly  looking  for 
ward  to  a  union  of  the  colonies,  she  had  settled 
that  in  her  local  affairs  she  was  competent  to 
govern  herself :  this  she  had  maintained  that  day 
in  arms,  and  her  period  of  vassalage  was  over. 

Willingly  would  I  pursue  the  theme  further,  but 
the  limits  which  custom  prescribes  for  an  address 
of  this  nature  are  too  narrow  to  permit  this. 
You  know  well  the  years  of  doubt,  anxiety,  and 
struggle  that  succeeded  ;  but,  before  we  part,  some 
thing  should  be  said  of  those  that  have  passed 
since  their  triumphant  close. 

8 


114  THE   BATTLE  OF  BUNKER   HILL. 

I  have  forborne  to  speak  of  the  causes  which  led 
to  the  American  Revolution.  They  have  recently 
been  so  carefully  and  ably  analyzed  by  the  dis 
tinguished  orators  who  aided  in  the  celebrations  at 
Concord  and  Lexington  that  I  have  preferred  to 
devote  a  few  moments  to  a  consideration  of  some 
of  its  effects,  for  it  is  by  its  effects  that  the  pro 
priety  and  wisdom  of  such  a  movement  in  human 
affairs  must  always  be  eventually  tested. 

That  the  formation  and  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  has  been  to  us,  since 
our  independence  was  finally  achieved,  the  great 
event  of  the  century,  must  be  universally  conceded. 
It  was  the  great  good  fortune  and  the  crowning 
triumph  of  the  statesmen  who  guided  us  through 
the  Revolution,  that  they  lived  long  enough  to  em 
body  its  results  in  a  permanent  and  durable  form  ; 
for  it  is  proverbially  harder  to  secure  the  fruits  of  a 
victory  than  to  win  the  victory  itself.  Many  a  day 
of  triumph  upon  the  field  has  been  but  a  day  of 
carnage  and  of  empty  glory,  barren  in  all  that  was 
valuable;  and  the  victories  that  have  been  won 
upon  the  political  field  are  no  exceptions  to  the 
rule,  of  which  history  teems  with  illustrations. 

Our  ancient  ally,  whose  services  during  the  last 
years  of  our  war  were  of  so  much  value  to  our 
exhausted  treasury  and  armies,  and  whose  gift  of 
the  generous  and  chivalric  Lafayette  at  its  opening 
was  almost  equally  precious,  passed  a  few  years 
later  through  her  own  desperate  struggle ;  yet 
although  that  fierce  tide  swept  in  a  sea  of  fire 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   PULL.  115 

and  blood  over  all  the  ancient  institutions  of  the 
monarchy,  how  impossible  it  has  proved  to  this  day 
for  France  to  supply  the  place  of  the  government 
which  it  so  sternly  overthrew  with  one  thoroughly 
permanent,  giving  peace  and  security  !  Republic, 
Directory,  Consulate,  Empire,  Kingdom,  have  each 
had  their  turn ;  dynasty  after  dynasty,  faction 
after  faction,  have  asserted  their  sway  over  her. 

For  a  government  under  the  constitutions  of  the 
several  States,  and  under  that  of  the  United  States, 
this  people  was  prepared  alike  by  its  previous 
history  and  by  that  which  followed  its  separation 
from  Britain.  It  was  the  legitimate  outgrowth  of 
experience,  and  not  a  government  framed,  like 
those  of  "the  Abbe  Sieyes  at  the  end  of  their  Revo 
lution,  for  the  French,  by  the  aid  of  philosophic 
speculation,  and  on  the  basis  of  that  which  should 
be,  and  not  of  that  which  was.  While  the  colonies, 
by  means  of  their  representative  and  legislative 
systems,  had  been  accustomed  to  deal  with  their 
local  affairs,  and  impose  their  local  taxation,  and 
had  successfully  resisted  the  attempt  to  interfere 
with  these  rights,  yet,  from  the  relation  they  had 
also  been  accustomed  to  sustain  towards  Great  Brit 
ain,  it  was  not  to  them  a  novel  idea  that  two  gov 
ernments,  each  complete  and  supreme  within  its 
sphere,  might  co-exist,  —  the  one  controlling  the  lo 
cal  affairs  of  each  individual  State,  while  the  other 
exercised  its  powers  over  all  the  States  in  their  in 
tercourse  with  each  other  and  with  foreign  nations. 

Painfully  conscious  of  their  weakness,  the  desire 


116  THE   BATTLE    OF   BUNKER   HILL. 

for  a  union  of  all  had  gone  hand  in  hand  with 
the  desire  of  each  to  preserve  its  own  separate 
organization.  The  first  Continental  Congress  had 
not  exercised  political  authority ;  it  had  assembled 
only  on  behalf  of  the  United  Colonies  to  petition 
and  remonstrate  against  the  various  arbitrary  acts 
of  the  British  government.  Those  which  succeeded, 
however,  with  patriotic  courage  had  boldly  seized 
the  highest  powers ;  yet  as  they  could  exercise 
such  powers  only  so  far  as  each  State  gave  its 
assent  and  sustained  them,  the  necessary  result 
followed  that  their  decrees  were  often  feebly  exe 
cuted,  and  sometimes  utterly  disregarded.  Later 
in  the  war  the  Confederation  had  been  established, 
by  which  it  had  been  sought  to  fix  more  definitely 
the  relation  of  the  States  by  giving  more  determi 
nate  authority  to  the  Congress,  and  thereby  to 
rescue  the  country  from  the  financial  ruin  which 
had  overtaken  it. 

But  the  powers  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confed 
eration,  like  those  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
were  such  as  were  consistent  only  with  a  league  of 
sovereign  and  independent  States,  and  were  in 
their  exercise  less  efficacious,  because  they  had 
been  carefully  defined  and  limited.  The  Confed 
eration  did  not  constitute  a  government ;  it  did 
not  assume  to  act  upon  the  people,  but  upon  the 
several  States  ;  and  upon  them  no  means  existed 
of  enforcing  its  requisitions  and  decrees,  or  of  com 
pelling  them  to  the  performance  of  the  treaties  it 
might  make  or  the  obligations  it  might  incur. 


THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL.  117 

Among  allied  powers,  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
there  is  no  mode  of  enforcing  the  agreement  of 
alliance  except  by  war. 

The  great  work  of  achieving  independence  had, 
however,  been  completed  by  the  Confederation  in 
spite  of  all  its  weakness  and  inherent  defects. 
These  were,  however,  more  clearly  seen  when  the 
sense  of  an  immediate  and  common  danger,  and 
the  cohesive  pressure  of  war,  were  withdrawn. 
A  mere  aggregation  of  States  could  not  take  its 
place  among  the  peoples  of  the  world.  A  national 
sovereignty  was  needed,  capable  of  establishing  a 
financial  system  of  its  own,  of  raising  money  for 
its  own  support  by  taxation,  of  establishing  regu 
lations  of  trade,  of  forming  treaties  with  sufficient 
power  to  execute  them,  of  insuring  order  in  every 
State,  of  bringing  each  State  into  proper  relations 
with  the  others,  and  able,  if  need  be,  to  declare 
war  or  maintain  peace,  —  a  sovereignty  which 
should  act  directly  on  the  people  themselves  in 
the  exercise  of  all  its  rightful  powers,  and  not 
through  the  intervention  of  the  States. 

The  years  of  unexampled  depression  which 
followed  peace  with  Britain  were  not  attributable 
only  to  the  exhaustion  of  war  :  the  impossibility  of 
establishing  a  financial  or  a  commercial  system, 
the  sense  of  insecurity  that  prevailed,  paralyzed 
industry  and  enterprise.  Already  jarrings  and  con 
tests  between  the  several  States  presaged  the 
danger  which  had  destroyed  the  republics  of 
Greece  and  those  of  Italy  during  the  Middle  Ages ;; 


118  THE  BATTLE  OF  BUNKER   HILL. 

already  civil  discord,  which,  although  suppressed, 
had  thrown  the  State  temporarily  into  confusion, 
had  made  its  appearance  in  Massachusetts ;  already 
doubts  began  to  be  expressed,  even  by  some  who 
had  been  ardent  in  the  patriotic  cause,  whether 
it  had  been  wise  to  separate  from  a  government 
which,  even  if  monarchical,  was  strong  and  able  to 
defend  and  protect  its  subjects ;  and  it  had  come 
to  be  realized  that  there  must  be  somewhere  a 
controlling  power  competent  to  maintain  peace 
between  the  States,  and  to  guarantee  to  each  the 
security  of  its  owrn  government. 

The  Convention  which  met  at  Philadelphia  in 
1787  gave  these  States  a  government,  and  made 
them  a  nation  ;  and  while  I  know  to  what  is  im 
personal  there  is  wanting  much  of  the  ardor  that 
personal  loyalty  inspires,  yet  so  far  as  there  may 
be  warmth  in  the  devotion  we  cherish  for  an 
institution,  it  should  awaken  at  the  mention  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  noble 
preamble  declares  by  whom  it  is  made,  and  defines 
its  purposes :  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union, 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  pro 
vide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  gen 
eral  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and 
establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United  States 
of  America."  In  the  largest  measure  it  has  ful 
filled  these  objects  ;  and  the  judgment  and  far- 
seeing  wisdom  with  which  its  founders  met  the 


THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER   HILL.  119 

difficulties  before  them  more  and  more  challenges 
our  admiration  as  the  years  advance  and  the 
Republic  extends. 

Formed  by  men  who  differed  widely  in  their 
views,  —  some  who  clung  resolutely  still  to  the 
idea  that  it  was  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the 
States  to  constitute  an  efficient  central  power,  and 
others  who,  like  Hamilton,  preferred  a  consolidated 
government  whose  model  should  be  the  British 
Constitution,  —  it  might  easily  have  been  that  a 
government  so  framed  should  have  been  a  patch 
work  of  incongruities,  whose  discordant  and 
irreconcilable  provisions  would  have  revealed  al 
ternately  the  influence  of  either  opinion.  Yet, 
differing  although  they  did,  they  were  statesmen 
still ;  and,  educated  in  the  rough  school  of  adversity 
and  trial,  they  realized  that  a  government  must  be 
constructed  capable  alike  of  daily  efficient  practical 
operation,  and  of  adapting  itself  to  the  constantly 
varying  exigencies  in  which  sovereign  States  must 
act.  How  doubtful  they  were  of  their  success,  how 
nobly  they  succeeded  in  the  government  they  made, 
to-day  we  know. 

We  have  seen  its  vast  capacity  for  expansion  as 
it  has  received  State  after  State  under  the  shield 
on  which  are  emblazoned  the  arms  of  the  Union, 
as  it  has  arisen  in  what  was  on  the  day  of  its 
formation  the  untrodden  wilderness,  and  advanced 
to  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  civilization ;  we 
have  recognized  the  flexibility  it  possesses  in  leav 
ing  to  States  materially  differing  in  local  charac- 


120  THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER  HILL. 

teristics  and  interests  the  control  and  management 
of  their  immediate  affairs ;  and  we  have  known 
its  capacity  to  vindicate  itself  in  the  wildest  storm 
of  civil  commotion. 

Let  us  guard  this  Union  well ;  for  as  upon  it  all 
that  is  glorious  in  the  past  is  resting,  so  upon  it  all 
our  hopes  in  the  future  are  founded.  Let  us  de 
mand  of  those  who  are  to  administer  its  great 
powers  purity,  disinterestedness,  devotion  to  well- 
settled,  carefully  considered  principles  and  con 
victions.  Let  us  cherish  the  homely  but  manly 
virtues  of  the  men  who  for  it  met  the  storm  of  war 
in  behalf  of  a  government  and  a  country ;  let  us 
conserve  their  simple  faith  in  what  was  just  and 
right,  a  faith  that  found  its  root  in  their  unswerv 
ing  belief  in  something  higher  than  mere  human 
guidance.  Let  us  encourage  that  universal  edu 
cation,  that  diffusion  of  knowledge,  which  every 
where  oppose  themselves  as  barriers,  steadily  and 
firmly,  alike  to  plunder  and  fraud,  to  disorder  and 
turbulence.  Above  all,  let  us  strive  to  maintain 
and  renew  the  fraternal  feeling  which  should  exist 
between  all  the  States  of  the  Union. 

We  will  not  pretend  that  the  trial  through  which 
we  have  passed  has  faded  either  from  our  hearts  or 
our  memories  ;  yet  no  one  will,  I  trust,  believe  that 
I  would  rudely  rake  open  the  smouldering  embers 
that  all  would  gladly  wish  to  see  extinguished  for 
ever,  or  that,  deeply  as  I  feel  our  great  and  solemn 
obligations  to  those  who  preserved  and  defended 
the  Union,  I  would  speak  one  word  except  with 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   PULL.  121 

respect  and  in  kindness  even  to  those  who  assailed 
it,  and  who  have  now  submitted  to  its  power. 

In  the  Union  two  classes  of  States  had  their 
place,  differing  radically  in  this,  that  in  the  one  the 
system  of  slavery  existed.  It  was  a  difficulty 
which  the  fathers  could  not  eliminate  from  the 
problem  before  them.  They  dealt  with  it  with  all 
the  wisdom  and  foresight  they  possessed.  Strongly 
impressed  with  a  belief  in  the  equal  rights  of  man, 
—  for  their  discussions  had  compelled  them  to 
deal  with  fundamental  principles,  —  they  were  not 
so  destitute  of  philosophy  that  they  did  not  see  that 
what  they  demanded  for  themselves  should  be  ac 
corded  to  others  ;  and  believing  that  the  whole  sys 
tem  would  fade  before  the  noble  influence  of  free 
government,  as  a  dark  cloud  melts  and  drifts  away, 
they  watched,  and  with  jealous  care,  that  the  in 
strument  they  signed  should  bear  no  trace  of  the 
existence  of  slavery.  It  was  not  thus  to  be ;  and 
the  system  has  passed  away  in  the  tempest  of 
battle  and  amid  the  clang  of  arms. 

The  conflict  is  over,  the  long  subject  race  is  re 
stored  to  liberty,  and  the  nation  has  had  "  under 
God  a  new  birth  of  freedom."  No  executions,  no 
harsh  punishments,  have  sullied  the  conclusion  ; 
day  by  day  the  material  evidences  of  war  fade 
from  our  sight ;  the  bastions  sink  to  the  level  of  the 
ground  which  surrounded  them  ;  scarp  and  counter 
scarp  meet  in  the  ditch  which  divided  them.  So 
let  them  pass  away  forever.  The  contest  is  marked 
distinctly  only  by  the  changes  in  the  organic  laws 


122  THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

of  the  Constitution,  which  embody  in  more  defi 
nite  forms  the  immortal  truths  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  That  these  include  more  than 
its  logical  and  necessary  results  cannot  fairly  be 
contended.  Did  I  believe  that  they  embraced  more 
than  these,  did  I  find  in  that  great  instrument  any 
changes  which  should  place  or  seek  to  place  one 
State  above  another,  or  above  another  class  of 
States,  so  as  to  mark  a  victory  of  sections  or  local 
ities,  I  could  not  rejoice,  for  I  should  know  that 
we  had  planted  the  seeds  of  "  unnumbered  woes." 

To-day  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  all,  no  matter 
on  what  side  they  were,  but,  above  all,  of  those 
who  have  struggled  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  to  strive  that  it  become  one  of  generous 
confidence,  in  which  all  the  States  shall,  as  of  old, 
stand  shoulder  to  shoulder,  if  need  be,  against  the 
world  in  arms.  Towards  those  with  whom  we  were 
lately  in  conflict,  and  who  recognize  that  the  re 
sults  are  to  be  kept  inviolate,  there  should  be  no 
feeling  of  resentment  or  bitterness.  To  the  neces 
sity  of  events  they  have  submitted  ;  to  the  changes 
in  the  Constitution  they  have  assented.  We  cannot 
and  we  do  not  think  so  basely  or  so  meanly  of 
them  as  to  believe  that  they  have  done  so  except 
generously  and  without  mental  reservation. 

We  know  that  it  is  not  easy  to  readjust  all  the 
relations  of  society  when  one  form  is  suddenly 
swept  away ;  that  the  sword  does  its  work  rudely, 
and  not  with  that  gradual  preparation  which  at 
tends  the  changes  of  peace.  We  realize  that  there 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL.  123 

are  difficulties  and  distrusts  not  to  be  removed  at 
once  between  those  who  have  been  masters  and 
slaves ;  yet  there  are  none  which  will  not  ulti 
mately  disappear.  All  true  men  are  with  the 
South  in  demanding  for  her  peace,  order,  honest 
and  good  government,  and  encouraging  her  in  the 
work  of  rebuilding  all  that  has  been  made  deso 
late.  We  need  riot  doubt  the  issue  ;  she  will  not 
stand  as  the  "  Niobe  of  nations,"  lamenting  her 
sad  fate  ;  she  will  not  look  back  to  deplore  a  past 
which  cannot  and  should  not  return ;  but  with  the 
fire  of  her  ancient  courage  she  will  gird  herself  up 
to  the  emergencies  of  her  new  situation,  she  will 
unite  her  people  by  the  bonds  of  that  mutual  confi 
dence  which  their  mutual  interests  demand,  and 
renew  her  former  prosperity  and  her  rightful  in 
fluence  in  the  Union. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  stand  to-day  on  a  great  bat 
tle-field  in  honor  of  the  patriotism  and  valor  of 
those  who  fought  upon  it.  It  is  the  step  which 
they  made  in  the  world's  history  we  would  seek  to 
commemorate ;  it  is  the  example  which  they  have 
offered  us  we  would  seek  to  imitate.  The  wise  and 
thoughtful  men  who  directed  the  Revolution  knew 
well  that  it  is  by  the  wars  which  personal  ambition 
has  stimulated,  by  the  armies  whose  force  has  been 
wielded  alike  for  domestic  oppression  or  foreign 
conquest,  that  the  sway  of  despots  has  been  so 
widely  maintained.  They  had  no  love  for  war  or 
any  of  its  works,  but  they  were  ready  to  meet  its 
dangers  in  their  attachment  to  the  cause  of  civil 


124  THE   BATTLE   OF   BUNKER   HILL. 

and  religious  liberty.  They  desired  to  found  no 
Roman  republic,  whose  banners,  "  fanned  by  con 
quest's  crimson  wing,"  should  float  victorious  over 
prostrate  nations,  but  one  where  the  serene  beauty 
of  the  arts  of  peace  should  put  to  shame  the  strifes 
that  have  impoverished  peoples  and  degraded 
nations.  To-day  let  us  rejoice  in  the  liberty  which 
they  have  gained  for  us ;  but  let  no  utterances  but 
those  of  peace  salute  our  ears,  no  thoughts  but 
those  of  peace  animate  our  hearts. 

Above  the  plains  of  Marathon,  even  now,  as  the 
Grecian  shepherd  watches  over  his  flocks,  he  fan 
cies  that  the  skies  sometimes  are  filled  with  lurid 
light,  and  that  in  the  clouds  above  are  re-enacted 
the  scenes  of  that  great  day  when,  on  the  field 
below,  Greece  maintained  her  freedom  against  the 
hordes  who  had  assailed  her.  Again  seem  to  come 
in  long  array,  rich  with  "  barbaric  pearl  and  gold," 
the  turbaned  ranks  of  the  Persian  host ;  and  the  air 
is  filled  with  the  clang  of  sword  and  shield,  as 
again  the  fiery  Greek  seems  to  throw  himself  upon 
and  drive  before  him  his  foreign  invader,  —  al 
though  all  are  but  shadows  that  flit  in  wild, 
confused  masses  along  the  spectral  sky. 

Above  the  field  where  we  stand,  even  in  the 
wildest  dream,  may  no  such  scenes  offend  the 
calmness  of  the  upper  air,  but  may  the  stars  look 
forever  down  upon  prosperity  and  peace,  upon  the 
bay  studded  with  its  white-winged  ships,  upon  the 
populous  and  far-extending  city,  with  its  marts  of 
commerce,  its  palaces  of  industry,  its  temples, 


THE   BATTLE    OF   BUNKER   HILL.  125 

where  each  man  may  worship  according  to  his  own 
conscience ;  and  as  the  continent  shall  pass  be 
neath  their  steady  rays,  may  the  millions  of  happy 
homes  attest  a  land  where  the  benign  influence  of 
free  government  has  brought  happiness  and  con 
tentment,  where  labor  is  rewarded,  where  manhood 
is  honored,  and  where  virtue  and  religion  are 
revered ! 

Peace  forever  with  the  great  country  from  which 
the  day  we  commemorate  did  so  much  rudely  to 
dissever  us !  If  there  were  in  that  time,  or  if 
there  have  been  since,  many  things  which  we  could 
have  wished  otherwise,  we  can  easily  afford  to  let 
them  pass  into  oblivion.  But  we  do  not  forget  in 
the  struggle  of  the  Revolution  how  many  of  her 
statesmen  stood  forth  to  assert  the  justice  of  our 
cause,  and  to  demand  for  us  the  rights  of  which 
we  had  been  deprived  until  the  celebrated  address 
was  passed  which  declared  that  the  House  of  Com 
mons  would  consider  as  enemies  to  the  King  and 
country  all  those  who  would  further  attempt  the 
prosecution  of  a  war  on  the  continent  of  America 
for  the  purpose  of  reducing  the  American  colonies 
to  obedience. 

From  her  we  have  drawn  the  great  body  of  laws 
which,  modified  and  adapted  to  our  different  sit 
uation,  protect  us  to-day  in  our  property,  its  de 
scent,  possession,  and  transmission,  and  which 
guard  our  dearer  personal  rights  by  the  habeas 
corpus  and  the  trial  by  jury.  They  were  our  coun 
trymen  who  from  the  days  of  King  John  to  those 


126  THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

of  George  III.  have  made  of  England  a  land  in 
which  "  freedom  has  broadened  slowly  down  from 
precedent  to  precedent." 

It  was  she  that  placed  her  foot  upon  the  "  di 
vine  right  of  kings/'  and  solemnly  maintained  that 
governments  exist  only  by  consent  of  the  governed, 
when  in  1688  she  changed  the  succession  to  the 
British  Crown,  and  caused  her  rulers  to  reign  there 
after  by  a  statute  of  Parliament. 

From  her  we  learned  the  great  lessons  of  con 
stitutional  liberty  which  as  against  her  we  reso 
lutely  asserted.  There  was  no  colony  of  any 
other  kingdom  of  Europe  that  would  have  dreamed 
of  demanding  as  rights  those  things  which  our 
fathers  deemed  their  inheritance  as  Englishmen, 
none  that  would  not  have  yielded  unhesitatingly 
to  any  injunction  of  the  parent  State.  Whatever 
differences  have  been  or  may  hereafter  corne.  let 
us  remember  still  that  we  are  the  only  two  great 
distinctly  settled  free  governments,  and  that 
the  noble  English  tongue  which  we  speak  alike 
is  "  the  language  of  freemen  throughout  the 
world." 

Above  all,  may  there  be  peace  forever  among 
the  States  of  this  Union  !  "  The  blood  spilt  here," 
said  Washington,  "roused  the  whole  American 
people,  and  united  them  in  defence  of  their  rights ; 
that  Union  will  never  be  broken."  Prophecies  may 
be  made  to  work  their  own  fulfilment ;  and  what 
ever  may  have  been  our  trials  and  our  difficulties, 
let  us  spare  no  effort  that  this  prophecy  shall  be 


THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL.  127 

realized.  Achieving  our  independence  by  a  com 
mon  struggle,  endowed  to-day  with  common  insti 
tutions,  we  see  even  more  clearly  than  before 
that  the  States  of  this  Union  have  before  them 
a  common  destiny. 

We  have  commenced  here  in  Massachusetts  the 
celebration  of  that  series  of  events  which  made  of 
us  a  nation ;  and  let  each,  as  it  approaches  in  the 
centennial  cycle,  serve  to  kindle  anew  the  fires  of 
patriotism.  Let  us  meet  on  the  fields  where  our 
fathers  fought,  and  where  they  lie,  whether  they 
fell  with  the  stern  joy  of  victory  irradiating  their 
countenances,  or  in  the  gloomy  hours  of  disaster 
and  defeat,  —  alike  in  remembrance  of  Saratoga 
and  Yorktown,  and  of  the  dreary  winter  of  Valley 
Forge,  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  and  at  the  spots 
immortalized  in  the  bloody  campaign  of  the  Jer 
seys,  at  King's  Mountain  and  Charleston,  at  Cam- 
den  and  Guilford  Court  House,  and  along  the  track 
of  the  steadily  fighting,  slowly  retreating  Greene 
through  the  Carolinas. 

Above  all,  at  the  city  from  which  went  forth 
the  Declaration  that  we  were,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  a  free  and  independent  nation,  let  us  gather, 
and,  by  the  sacred  memories  of  the  great  departed, 
pledge  ourselves  to  transmit  untarnished  the  heri 
tage  they  have  left  us. 

The  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  are  gone;  the 
statesmen  who  embodied  their  work  in  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States  have  passed  away. 
With  them,  too,  sleep  those  who  in  the  earlier 


128  THE  BATTLE  OF  BUNKER   HILL. 

days  watched   the  development  of  this  wondrous 
frame  of  government. 

The  mighty  master  of  thought  and  speech,1  by 
.whose  voice  fifty  years  ago  was  dedicated  the 
Monument  at  whose  base  we  stand,  and  whose 
noble  argument  that  the  Constitution  is  not  a  com 
pact,  but  a  law,  b}^  its  nature  supreme  and  perpet 
ual,  won  for  him  the  proud  name  of  the  Expounder 
of  the  Constitution,  rests  with  those  whose  work 
he  so  nobly  vindicated,  happy  at  least  that  his  eyes 
were  not  permitted  to  behold  the  sad  sight  of 
States  "discordant  and  belligerent,"  and  a  land 
"  drenched  in  fraternal  blood." 

The  lips  of  him 2  who  twenty-five  years  ago  com 
memorated  this  anniversary  with  that  surpassing 
grace  and  eloquence  all  his  own,  and  with  that  spirit 
of  pure  patriotism  in  which  we  may  strive  at  least 
to  imitate  him,  are  silent  now.  Throughout  the 
cruel  years  of  war  that  clarion  voice,  sweet  yet  far- 
resounding,  summoned  his  countrymen  to  the 
struggle  on  which  our  Union  depended  ;  yet  the 
last  time  that  it  waked  the  echoes  of  the  ancient 
hall  dedicated  to  liberty,  even  while  the  retiring 
storm  yet  thundered  along  the  horizon,  it  was  to 
speak  words  of  love  and  charity  to  the  distressed 
people  of  the  South. 

But  although  they  have  passed  beyond  the  veil 
which  separates  the  unseen  world  from  mortal 
gaze,  the  lessons  which  they  have  left  remain,  ad 
juring  us,  whatever  may  have  been  the  perils,  the 

1  Daniel  Webster.  2  Edward  Everett. 


THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER   HILL.  129 

discords,  the  sorrows  of  the  past,  to  struggle  al 
ways  for  that  "  more  perfect  Union  "  ordained  by 
the  Constitution.  Here,  at  least,  however  poor 
and  inadequate  for  an  occasion  that  rises  so  vast 
and  grand  above  us  our  words  may  be,  none  shall 
be  uttered  that  are  not  in  regard  and  love  to  all  of 
our  fellow-citizens,  no  feelings  indulged  except 
those  of  anxious  desire  for  their  prosperity  and 
happiness. 

Besides  those  of  New  England,  we  are  gratified 
to-day  by  the  presence  of  military  organizations 
from  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  from  Maryland, 
Virginia,  and  South  Carolina,  as  well  as  by  that  of 
distinguished  citizens  from  these  and  other  States 
of  the  Union.  Their  fathers  were  ancient  friends 
of  Massachusetts  ;  it  was  the  inspiration  they  gave 
which  strengthened  the  heart  and  nerved  the  arm 
of  every  man  of  New  England.  In  every  proper 
and  larger  sense  the  soil  upon  which  their  sons  stand 
to-day  is  theirs  as  much  as  ours ;  and  wherever 
there  may  have  been  estrangement,  here  at  least 
we  have  met  upon  common  ground.  They  unite 
with  us  in  recognition  of  the  great  principles  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  in  pious  memory  of 
those  who  vindicated  them ;  they  join  with  us  in 
the  wish  to  make  of  this  regenerated  Union  a 
power  grander  and  more  august  than  its  founders 
dared  to  hope. 

Standing  always  in  generous  remembrance  of 
every  section  of  the  Union,  neither  now  nor  here 
after  will  we  distinguish  between  States  or  sections 


130  THE  BATTLE   OF  BUNKER  HILL. 

in  our  anxiety  for  the  glory  and  happiness  of  all. 
To-day  upon  the  verge  of  the  centuries,  as  together 
we  look  back  upon  that  which  is  gone,  in  deep  and 
heartfelt  gratitude  for  the  prosperity  so  largely 
enjoyed  by  us,  so  together  will  we  look  forward 
serenely  and  with  confidence  to  that  which  is  ad 
vancing.  Together  will  we  utter  our  solemn  aspi 
rations  in  the  spirit  of  the  motto  of  the  city  which 
now  encloses  within  its  limits  the  battle-field  and 
the  town  for  which  the  battle  was  fought :  "  As 
God  was  to  our  fathers,  so  may  he  be  to  us !  " 


ORATION 

AT  THE   DEDICATION  OF  THE   SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT 
AT  BOSTON,  SEPTEMBER  17,  1877. 


MR.  MAYOR,  FELLOW-CITIZENS,  AND  COM 
RADES,  —  On  the  anniversary  of  a  day  thrice 
memorable,  as  that  of  the  first  settlement  of  this 
town  in  1630 ;  as  that  of  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  in  1789  ;  as  that  of 
a  great  battle  fought  for  the  Union  on  the  soil  of 
Maryland  in  1862  (the  victorious  commander  in 
which  is  to-day  among  our  most  honored  and  il 
lustrious  guests),  —  we  have  assembled  to  dedicate 
this  Monument  to  the  memory  of  the  brave  who 
fell  in  that  great  conflict,  which,  commencing 
for  the  unity  of  the  government,  broadened  and 
deepened  into  one  for  the  equal  rights  of  all  men. 
Before  we  part,  some  words  should  be  spoken 
seeking  to  express,  however  inadequately,  our 
gratitude  to  those  to  whom  it  is  devoted.  Yet 
our  ceremonial  will  be  but  vain  and  empty  if  its 
outward  acts  are  not  the  expressions  of  feelings 
deeper  than  either  acts  or  words.  Its  true  dedica 
tion  is  to  be  found  in  the  emotions  which  have  been 
kindled  by  the  occasion  itself,  and  to  which  every 
heart  has  yielded.  Here,  in  this  city,  the  capital 
of  Massachusetts,  —  a  State  from  which  more  than 


132     THE   SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   BOSTON. 

sixty  gallant  regiments  were  sent  to  the  field  under 
the  inspiration  of  her  illustrious  Governor,  who 
now  himself  sleeps  with  those  whom  he  sent  forth 
to  battle,  —  we  seek  to  surrender  by  this  solemn 
act,  from  the  age  that  is  passing  to  the  ages  that 
are  coming,  for  eternal  memory  and  honor,  the  just 
fame  of  those  who  have  died  for  the  Union. 

This  is  no  Monument  to  the  glories  of  war. 
While  great  changes  for  good  have  been  wrought, 
and  great  steps  taken  towards  liberty  arid  civiliza 
tion,  by  the  convulsive  energies  exhibited  in  wars, 
these  are  but  exceptions  to  the  great  rule  that  of  all 
the  causes  which  have  degraded  nations,  opposed 
human  progress,  and  oppressed  industry,  war 
has  been  one  of  the  worst.  If  this  were  the  ob 
ject  of  this  memorial,  it  wrere  better  far  that  the 
stones  which  compose  it  had  slumbered  in  their 
native  quarries.  No  pomp  and  circumstance,  no 
waving  of  banners,  no  dancing  of  plumes,  can 
lend  to  war  true  dignity.  This  is  to  be  found 
alone  in  a  great  and  noble  cause. 

Nor  is  this  a  Monument  to  valor  only.  There 
is  something  honorable  in  the  true  soldier,  who, 
resolutely  hazarding  life,  stands  for  the  flag  he 
follows  ;  but  there  is  that  which  is  higher  and 
nobler  here.  Among  the  finest  monuments  of 
Europe  is  that  which  is  found  in  the  beautiful 
valley  of  Lucerne,  to  the  memory  of  the  Swiss 
Guard  who  fell  around  Louis  XVI.,  when  the 
furious  mpb  had  stormed  his  palace.  Placed  in 
a  niche  of  the  limestone  cliff,  of  which  it  forms 


THE    SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   BOSTON.     133 

*v 

a  part,  a  lion  pierced  with  a  spear  still  holds  in 
his  death-grip  the  shield  on  which  are  carved  the 
arms  of  the  Bourbons.  Few  works  of  art  are  more 
majestic,  or  more  fully  show  the  hand  of  the  mas 
ter.  It  is  courage  only  that  it  honors ;  and  you 
wonder  at  the  power  which  has  so  ennobled  and 
dignified  it,  when  the  great  idea  of  patriotism 
was  wanting.  The  Swiss,  whom  it  commemo 
rates,  simply  did  bravely  the  work  which  they 
had  contracted  to  do,  when  the  subjects  of  the 
king,  whose  bread  they  had  eaten,  and  whose 
wine  they  had  drank,  deserted  him.  The  men 
whom  we  commemorate  were  brave  as  these,  yet 
their  place  in  history  is  not  with  them.  It  is 
with  the  soldiers  of  liberty,  who  with  patriotic 
devotion  have  fallen  a  willing  sacrifice  for  their 
country.  It  is  with  the  Swiss  who,  at  Sempach 
or  Morgarten,  in  defence  of  their  own  freedom, 
broke  the  power  of  the  House  of  Austria,  and  not 
with  the  mercenaries  whom  they  sent  to  fight  the 
battles  of  Europe. 

The  sentiment  of  this  Monument  is  patriotism. 
The  men  whom  it  honors  were  soldiers,  coura 
geous  to  the  death  ;  but  it  is  their  cause  which 
sets  them  apart  for  just  honor  and  commenda 
tion  among  the  millions  who  have  laid  down 
their  lives  upon  the  battle-field.  Patriotism  such 
as  theirs  is  the  highest  of  civic  virtues,  the  noblest 
form  of  heroism.  Those  who  perilled  their  lives 
in  obedience  to  its  promptings  could  gain  no  more 
than  those  who  remained  at  home  in  inglorious 


134     THE   SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   BOSTON. 

ease  ;  and  yet  they  laid  aside  their  hopes  of  com 
fort,  to  die  for  us.  That  the  government  they 
had  lived  under  might  be  preserved,  that  the 
just  and  equal  rights  of  all  men  might  be  main 
tained,  they  encountered  disease,  danger,  and 
death,  in  all  the  horrid  forms  in  which  they 
present  themselves  to  every  one  who  takes  his 
place  in  the  ranks  of  an  army,  with  the  solemn 
belief  that  in  no  other  way  could  they  discharge 
the  obligation  imposed  upon  them  by  their  birth 
right  as  citizens  of  a  free  country.  Whatever 
might  be  its  difficulties  and  dangers,  their  path 
was  so  clearly  indicated  that  they  deemed  they 
could  not  err  in  following  it.  When  they  fought 
and  fell,  they  could  not  know  but  that  their  efforts 
would  be  in  vain,  and  the  great  flag,  the  symbol 
of  our  united  sovereignty,  be  rent  asunder ;  but 
they  were  ready  to  risk  all,  and  to  dare  all,  in 
the  effort  to  deserve  success. 

They  were  animated  by  no  fierce  fire  of  ambi 
tion,  no  desire  to  exalt  themselves,  no  expecta 
tion  of  attaining  those  rewards  which  are  gained 
by  great  chieftains.  They  had  no  such  hopes. 
They  knew  well  that  all  the  honor  they  could 
obtain  was  that  general  meed  of  praise  awarded 
to  all  who  serve  faithfully,  but  which  would  not 
separate  them  from  others  who  had  been  brave 
and  true.  No  doubt,  as  the  blood  of  youth 
was  high  in  their  veins,  they  looked  forward 
in  some  instances  to  the  stern  joy  of  the  con 
flict  ;  but  beyond  and  above  its  tempest,  fire,  and 


THE   SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   BOSTON.     135 

smoke,  they  beheld  and  strove  for  the  great  ob 
jects  of  the  contest. 

To-day  they  have  seemed  to  come  again  as 
when  they  moved  out  in  serried  lines,  with 
the  flag  which  they  went  to  defend  waving 
above  their  heads.  Again  we  have  seemed  to 
see  them,  their  faces  lighted  with  patriotic  en 
thusiasm  ;  and  we  have  recalled  the  varied  scenes 
of  their  stern  and  manly  service,  which  was  to 
end  in  a  soldier's  death  for  the  country  to  which 
they  had  devoted  themselves,  —  in  each  and  every 
fortune  patient  and  determined,  staining  their 
cause  with  no  weakness  or  cowardice,  dishonor 
ing  it  by  no  baseness  or  cruelty. 

When  we  reflect  how  little  our  system  of  educa 
tion  is  calculated  to  adapt  men  to  the  restraints  of 
military  service,  how  inconsistent  its  largeness  and 
freedom  is  with  that  stern  control  which  necessarily 
marks  a  system  intended  to  give  to  a  single  mind 
the  power  which  is  embodied  in  thousands  of  men, 
we  may  well  wonder  at  the  ready  submission  which 
was  always  given  to  its  exactions.  To  some  the 
possession  of  marked  military  qualities,  adapting 
them  to  control  others,  gave  prominence ;  to  some 
mere  accidents  of  time  or  circumstance  may  have 
given  high  commands,  while  others,  not  less  worthy, 
filled  only  their  places,  and  did  their  duty  in  the 
ranks.  But  those  who  led  must  often  have  felt 
that  their  highest  desire  should  be  to  be  worthy 
of  the  devotion  of  those  who  followed.  The  dis 
tinctions  necessary  to  discipline  have  long  since 


136     THE   SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT   AT   BOSTON. 

passed  away.  Side  by  side,  on  fields  bought  by 
their  blood,  "  no  useless  coffins  around  their 
breasts,"  but  wrapped  in  the  blanket  which  is  the 
soldier's  martial  shroud,  awaiting  the  coming  of 
the  Eternal  Day,  they  rest  together. 

What  matter  is  it  when  men  have  given  their 
utmost  in  intellect,  strength,  and  courage  and 
their  blood  to  the  last  drop,  whether  they  fell 
with  the  stars  of  the  general,  the  eagles  of  the 
colonel,  on  their  shoulders,  or  in  the  simple  jacket 
of  the  private  ?  Wherever  "  on  fame's  eternal 
camping-ground  their  silent  tents  are  spread," 
in  the  tangled  wildwood,  in  the  stately  cemetery, 
or  in  nameless  graves  not  even  marked  by  the 
word  "  unknown,"  the  earth  that  bears  them 
dead  bears  not  alive  more  true  or  noble  men. 
To-day  we  remember  them  all,  without  regard  to 
rank  or  race,  seeking  to  honor  those  whom  we 
cannot  by  name  identify. 

If  we  do  not  commend  patriotism  such  as  these 
men  exhibited,  to  whom  are  we  to  turn  in  the 
hour  of  danger  which  may  come  to  those  who 
are  to  succeed  us,  as  it  did  to  ourselves  ?  Lessons 
such  as  they  have  given  are  not  to  be  idly 
neglected  when  the  time  is  gone  when  their  ser 
vices  have  ceased  to  be  of  immediate  value.  We 
shall  not  need  to  go  to  Marathon  and  Platea  for 
examples,  whose  brethren  have  shed  their  blood 
on  fields  as  fiercely  contested  as  those ;  and  it 
would  be  idle  to  go  anywhere  for  examples,  un 
less  in  rendering  homage  to  the  valor  and  patri- 


THE   SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT   AT   BOSTON.     137 

otism  displayed  by  our  brethren,  we  seek  to 
reconsecrate  ourselves  to  the  same  virtues.  Every 
instinct  of  justice  calls  upon  us  for  the  appro 
priate  meed  of  praise  ;  every  suggestion  of  wisdom 
counsels  that  we  omit  no  opportunity  to  instil  into 
others  the  admiration  with  which  these  deeds  are 
regarded.  The  fables  of  romance,  which,  in  some 
form,  each  nation  of  Europe  has,  that  in  great 
emergencies  their  illustrious  chiefs  will  return 
again  to  rescue  them,  are  not  altogether  myths. 
To  each  people  that  loves  bravery  and  patriotism 
come  again  in  their  hour  of  trial  the  old  heroic 
souls,  although  the  form  and  garb  they  wear  is 
of  their  age  and  time. 

The  time  for  natural  tears  has  passed.  To 
every  heart  the  years  have  brought  their  new 
store  of  joys  and  sorrows  since  these  men  made 
their  great  sacrifice  for  country.  The  struc 
ture  that  we  have  reared  stands  to  honor,  and 
not  to  mourn,  the  dead.  So  shall  it  stand  when 
we  in  our  turn  are  gone,  to  teach  its  lesson  of 
duty  nobly  done,  at  the  expense  of  life  itself,  to 
those  who  are  in  turn  to  take  upon  themselves 
the  duties  of  life. 

Those  whose  names  it  honors  were  known  and 
loved  by  us,  and  are  not  to  be  recalled  but  with 
that  manly  sorrow  born  of  respect  and  love. 
There  are  those  also  to  whom  they  were  even 
nearer  and  dearer  than  to  us,  who  knew  them  as 
comrades,  whose  homes  are  forever  darkened  by 
the  absence  of  the  light  of  affection  which  their 


138     THE   SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT  BOSTON. 

presence  shed  around  them.  But  the  age  comes 
swiftly  on  which  is  to  know  them  only  by  their 
deeds.  We  commend  them  to  the  grave  and  im 
partial  tribunal  of  history  as  patriotic  and  devoted 
citizens  ;  we  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of 
the  world  upon  the  justice  of  their  cause  ;  we  re 
new  and  reiterate  the  assertion  that  there  was  a 
solemn  duty  laid  upon  them  by  their  time,  their 
place,  their  country,  and  that  such  duty  they  met 
and  performed.  To  them,  as  to  the  Spartans  who 
fell  around  their  king  in  stern  defence  of  the  liber 
ties  of  Greece,  changing  but  the  name  of  the  battle 
field,  apply  the  words  which  Simonides  uttered  : 

"  Of  those  who  at  Thermopylae  were  slain, 

Glorious  the  doom  and  beautiful  the  lot, 

Their  tomb  an  altar,  men  from  tears  refrain, 

Honor  and  praise,  but  mourn  them  not." 

Although  this  Monument  may  often  be  passed 
as  a  thing  of  custom,  although  the  lesson  which  it 
teaches  may  seem  to  be  forgotten,  yet  in  the  hour 
of  trial,  if  it  is  to  come  to  others  as  it  came  to  us, 
this  Monument  will  be  freshly  remembered.  As 
in  the  Roman  story  which  tells  of  Hannibal,  the 
mightiest  enemy  Rome  ever  knew,  it  is  related  that 
his  father,  Hamilcar,  himself  a  chieftain  and  a 
warrior,  whose  renown  has  been  eclipsed  by  that  of 
his  greater  son,  brought  him  when  a  child  of  nine 
years  old  into  the  Temple  of  the  Gods,  that  he 
might  lift  his  little  hands  to  swear  eternal  hostility 
to  the  tyranny  of  Rome,  —  so  shall  those  who  sue- 


THE    SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT  AT   BOSTON.     139 

ceed  us  come  here  to  swear  hostility,  not  to  one 
grasping  power  only,  but  to  every  tyranny  that 
would  enslave  the  body  or  enchain  the  mind  of 
man,  and  eternal  devotion  to  the  great  principles 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

Nor  is  this  Monument,  while  it  asserts  our  be 
lief  in  the  fidelity  of  these  men,  in  any  sense  un 
kind  or  ungenerous  towards  those  with  whom  they 
were  engaged  in  deadly  strife.  It  bears  no  words 
of  boasting  or  unseemly  exultation ;  and  the  as 
sertion  of  the  justice  of  our  cause,  though  firmly 
made,  is  yet  not  made  in  any  harsh  or  contro 
versial  spirit.  We  recognize  fully  that  those 
with  whom  we  warred  were  our  countrymen ; 
we  know  their  valor  and  determination  ;  we 
know  that  no  foot  of  ground  was  yielded  to  us 
until  to  hold  it  became  impossible,  and  that  they 
resisted  until  men  and  means  utterly  and  hope 
lessly  failed.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  their 
cause,  that  as  a  people  they  believed  in  it  cannot 
fairly  be  questioned.  Men  do  not  sacrifice  life  and 
property  without  stint  or  measure  except  in  the 
faith  that  they  are  right.  Upon  individuals  we 
may  charge  unreasonable  temper,  intolerance,  pas 
sion,  and  the  promptings  of  a  selfish  and  ill-regu 
lated  ambition ;  but  the  whole  body  of  a  people 
do  not  act  from  motives  thus  personal,  and  have  a 
right  to  have  their  bravery  and  sincerity  admitted, 
even  if  more  cannot  be  conceded. 

The  great  conflict  was  fought  out  and  the  victory 
won  which  has  established  forever,  if  the  force  of 


140     THE   SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT  BOSTON. 

arms  can  establish  anything,  that  the  Republic 
is  one  and  indivisible ;  and  amid  the  roar  of 
battle  and  the  clash  of  arms,  the  institution  of 
slavery  which  divided  us  as  a  nation,  which  made 
of  the  States  two  classes  diverse  and  discordant, 
has  passed  away.  Perhaps  if  we  had  fully 
known  all  that  it  was  to  cost,  both  at  the  North 
and  South,  we  should  have  hesitated  more  than 
we  did  before  engaging  in  a  strife  so  deadly  and 
terrible.  Yet  as  we  consider  all  the  woes  which 
must  have  followed  the  dismemberment  of  the 
Union,  as  we  contemplate  the  vast  gain  for 
peace,  freedom,  and  equality  by  the  emancipation 
of  the  subject  race  from  slavery  and  the  dominant 
race  itself  from  the  corrupting  influence  of  this 
thraldom,  who  shall  say  that  we  have  any  right 
to  deplore  the  past  except  with  mitigated  grief  ? 
We  are  yet  too  near  the  events  through  which 
we  were  swept  upon  the  bloody  currents  of  the 
war  to  appreciate  their  full  extent  and  magnitude, 
or  all  the  consequences  which  are  to  flow  from 
them.  We  know  already  that  wTe  enter  upon  a 
higher  plane  of  national  life,  when  it  is  estab 
lished  that  there  are  no  exceptions  to  the  great 
rules  of  liberty  among  men,  and  that  each  is  en 
titled  to  the  just  rewards  of  his  labor  and  the 
position  to  which  his  talents,  ability,  and  virtue 
entitle  him.  As  we  stand  here  in  memory  of 
our  gallant  dead,  we  urge  upon  all  who  have 
contended  with  them  to  unite  with  us  in  the 
effort  to  make  of  our  new  and  regenerated  gov- 


THE   SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT   AT  BOSTON.     141 

ernment,  purified  by  the  fires  of  our  civil  con 
flict,  a  republic  more  noble  and  more  august 
than  its  founders  had  dared  to  hope. 

Among  all  patriotic  men  there  is  everywhere  an 
earnest  desire  that  there  shall  be  full  peace  and 
reconciliation  between  the  sections  of  the  Union. 
Whatever  may  have  been  former  divisions,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  events  of  the  past,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  present  condition  of  thing?,  which 
should  forbid  this.  We  can  stand,  firmly  and 
securely  stand,  upon  that  which  has  been  defi 
nitely  settled  by  the  war.  Ours  was  not  a 
mere  conflict  of  dynasties,  or  of  families,  like 
the  English  Wars  of  the  Roses,  in  which  the 
great  Houses  of  York  and  Lancaster  disputed  for 
the  English  Crown.  It  was  a  great  elemental 
conflict,  in  which  two  opposite  systems  of  civi 
lization  were  front  to  front  and  face  to  face.  It 
was  necessary  that  one  or  the  other  should  con 
quer,  and  that  it  should  be  settled  whether  the 
continent  should  be  all  free  or  all  slave.  Yet 
the  history  of  civil  wars  demonstrates  that  the 
widest  and  saddest  differences  of  religion,  the 
most  radical  differences  as  to  the  form  of  gov 
ernment,  have  not  prevented  firm  union  when 
the  cause  of  dissension  was  obliterated. 

Now  that  it  is  determined  that  the  Union  is  to 
exist,  it  must  be  rendered  one  of  mutual  respect 
and  regard,  as  well  as  of  mutual  interest.  Un 
less  this  is  the  case,  there  is  no  cohesive  pressure 
of  either  internal  or  external  force  strong  enough 


142     THE   SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT   AT   BOSTON. 

to  maintain  it.  There  must  have  been  a  party 
victorious  arid  a  party  vanquished  ;  but  there  is 
no  true  victory  anywhere  unless  the  conclusion 
is  for  the  interest  of  each  and  all.  It  is  not  the 
least  of  the  just  claims  that  the  American 
Revolution  has  upon  the  friends  of  liberty 
everywhere  that  while  it  terminated  in  the  dis 
memberment  of  the  British  Empire,  it  left  the 
English  a  more  free  people  than  they  would  have 
been  but  for  its  occurrence.  It  settled  for  them 
more  firmly  the  great  safeguards  of  English 
liberty  in  the  right  of  the  habeas  corpus,  the 
trial  by  jury,  and  the  great  doctrine  that  repre 
sentation  must  accompany  taxation.  We  speak 
of  it  as  the  victory  of  Adams  and  Jefferson,  but 
it  was  not  less  that  of  Chatham  and  Burke. 

I  should  deem  the  war  for  the  Union  a  failure, 
I  should  think  the  victory  won  by  these  men 
who  have  died  in  its  defence  barren,  if  it  should 
not  prove  in  every  larger  sense  won  for  the 
South  as  well  as  the  North  ;  if  it  should  not  be 
shown  that  it  is  better  for  her  that  the  contest 
against  its  rightful  authority  failed. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  opinion  will  be 
changed  by  edicts,  even  when  those  edicts  are 
maintained  by  force.  The  changes  of  opinion 
must  be  gradual,  and  must  be  the  effect  of  that 
time  which  enables  feeling  to  subside  and  the  judg 
ment  to  act.  Already  there  are  brave  and  reflect 
ing  men  who  fought  against  us  who  do  not  hesitate 
to  acknowledge  that  the  end  was  well  for  them  as 


THE   SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT  BOSTON.     143 

for  us,  and  who  look  forward  hopefully  to  better 
results  than  could  have  been  expected  from  a  Con 
federacy  which,  if  it  had  been  founded,  would  have 
been  at  the  mercy  of  each  individual  State.  Nor 
is  there  any  one  bold  enough  to  say,  now  that  the 
system  of  slavery  is  destroyed,  that  he  would 
raise  a  hand  or  lift  a  finger  to  replace  it.  That 
the  cause  for  which  they  have  suffered  so  much 
will  still  be  dear  to  those  who  fought  for  it,  or 
with  whom  it  is  associated  by  tender  and  affec 
tionate  recollections  of  those  whom  they  loved, 
who  fell  in  its  defence,  is  to  be  expected.  To 
such  sentiments  and  feelings  it  is  a  matter  of  in 
difference  whether  there  is  defeat  or  success.  They 
would  exist,  indeed,  even  if  the  reason  and  judg 
ment  should  concede  the  cause  to  have  been  un 
wise.  Certainly,  we  ourselves,  had  the  war  for 
the  Union  failed,  would  not  the  less  have  believed 
it  just  and  necessary,  nor  the  less  have  honored 
the  memory  of  those  engaged  in  it.  When  re 
sults  are  accepted  cordially,  we  can  ask  no  more 
until  the  softening  influences  of  time  have  done 
their  work. 

On  the  fields  which  were  ploughed  by  the  fierce 
artillery  the  wheat  has  been  dancing  fresh  and  fair 
in  the  breezes  of  the  summer  that  is  gone ;  and  as 
the  material  evidences  of  the  conflict  pass  away, 
so  let  each  feeling  of  bitterness  disappear,  as  to 
gether,  both  North  and  South,  we  strive  to  render 
the  Republic  one  whose  firm  yet  genial  sway  shall 
protect  with  just  and  equal  laws  each  citizen  who 


144     THE    SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT   AT  BOSTON. 

yields  obedience  to  her  power.  Asking  for  our 
selves  no  rights  that  we  do  not  freely  concede  to 
others,  demanding  no  restraints  upon  others  that 
we  do  not  readily  submit  to  ourselves,  yielding  a 
generous  obedience  to  the  Constitution  in  all  its 
parts,  both  new  and  old,  let  us  endeavor  to  lift 
ourselves  to  that  higher  level  of  patriotism  which 
despises  any  narrow  sectionalism,  and  rejoices  in 
a  nationality  broad  enough  to  embrace  every  sec 
tion  of  the  Union,  and  each  one  of  its  people, 
whether  high  or  humble,  rich  or  poor,  black  or 
white. 

There  is  no  division  to-day  among  the  States  of 
the  Union  such  as  existed  when  the  Constitution 
was  formed.  In  each  and  all  the  great  principles 
of  liberty  and  equal  rights  are  the  same,  to  be  alike 
respected  as  the  only  basis  upon  which  the  govern 
ment  can  stand.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
sorrows  or  the  losses  of  the  war,  there  is  no  sor 
row  that  cannot  find  its  recompense  in  the  added 
grandeur  and  dignity  of  the  whole  country. 

COMRADES,  —  It  is  the  last  time  that  we,  who 
have  marched  under  the  flag,  and  been  the  soldiers 
of  the  Union  in  its  mortal  struggle,  shall  gather  in 
such  numbers  as  meet  to-day.  We  are  an  army  to 
whom  can  come  no  recruits.  The  steady,  resistless 
artillery  of  time  hurls  its  deadly  missiles  upon  us, 
and  each  hour  we  are  fewer  and  weaker.  But  as 
we  stand  together  thus,  as  we  remember  how  nobly 
and  bravely  life's  work  was  done  by  these  men 


THE   SOLDIERS'   MONUMENT   AT   BOSTON.    145 

whom  we  have  sought  to  commemorate,  let  us 
believe  that  the  tie  which  binds  us  to  them  in  a 
great  and  holy  cause  is  not  wholly  dissolved. 
Their  worldly  task  is  done ;  their  solemn  oath, 
which  we  took  side  by  side  with  them,  is  per 
formed.  For  us  life  brings  each  day  its  new 
duties  and  new  responsibilities. 

In  the  classic  mythology,  which  was  the  reli 
gion  of  the  ancient  world,  it  was  fabled  that  the 
heroes  were  demi-gods.  Raised  above  the  race  of 
man,  and  yet  not  so  far  but  that  their  example 
might  be  imitated,  they  served  to  animate  those 
who  yet  struggled  with  their  mortal  surroundings. 
So  should  these,  our  heroes,  while  the  dust  of 
life's  conflict  is  yet  on  us,  inspire  us  to  loftier 
purposes  and  nobler  lives.  And  as  we  leave 
them  to  their  glorious  repose  and  their  pure 
and  noble  fame,  let  us  go  forth  exalted  by  these 
hours  of  communion  with  them. 

Above  them,  as  we  depart,  we  utter  the  ancient 
form  of  words,  and  yet  in  no  formal  way,  which 
conclude  the  proclamations  of  the  State  whose 
children  they  were  :  "  God  save  the  Common 
wealth  of  Massachusetts ! "  And  to  this  we 
add,  with  not  less  of  fervor  or  solemnity,  the 
prayer  which  was  in  their  hearts  and  upon  their 
lips  as  they  died :  "  God  save  the  Union  of  the 
American  States !  " 


10 


ADDRESS 

AT  THE  COMMEMORATION  OF  THE  TWO  HUNDRED  AND 
FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  FIRST  PARISH  CHURCH 
OF  CHARLESTOWN,  NOVEMBER  12,  1882. 


THE  occasion  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  in 
terest  ;  while  I  have  listened  with  pleasure  and 
instruction,  I  could  have  wished  that  it  might  have 
passed  without  any  words  from  me,  —  not,  cer 
tainly,  that  I  would  fail  in  anything  that  could 
do  honor  to  the  founders  of  this  church,  but  that 
I  feel  how  little  I  can  utter  worthy  of  the 
occasion. 

The  anniversary  of  this  church  is  inextricably 
connected  with  that  of  the  First  Church  of  Boston. 
It  is  not  so  much  an  outgrowth,  or  an  offshoot,  as 
one  of  its  integral  parts ;  while  its  formal  organi 
zation  dates  from  1632,  its  real  organization  is 
that  of  the  church  formed  here  in  1630.  The 
charter  of  the  Massachusetts  Company  had  been 
transformed  by  a  large  latitude  of  construction, 
and  by  a  yet  larger  latitude  had  been  deemed  to 
authorize  the  foundation  of  a  colony  which  was 
to  govern  itself.  A  State  was  to  be  founded  here 
which  was  to  rest  upon  the  rock  of  the  Church. 
While  the  immigrants  were  houseless,  scattered 


148      THE   FIRST   CHURCH   OF   CHARLESTOWN. 

around  this  hill,  seeking  to  satisfy  the  most  simple 
and  necessary  wants,  yet  spiritual  needs  must  be 
satisfied  first.  We  stand  upon  the  hill  upon  which 
they  stood,  —  almost,  it  may  be,  upon  the  very 
spot.  It  was  here,  too,  that  the  Court  of  Assist 
ants  first  met,  and  the  political  life  of  the  colony 
commenced  almost  contemporaneously  with  that 
of  the  church.  Clearly,  to  use  the  words  of  Dr. 
Johnson,  "  ours  is  not  the  frigid  philosophy  which 
would  conduct  us  indifferent  and  unmoved  over 
any  ground  which  has  been  dignified  by  wisdom, 
bravery,  or  virtue  ;  "  and  the  place  where  we  stand 
may  well  inspire  us  with  elevated  thought  and 
solemn  reflection  as  we  contemplate  these  men 
and  their  work,  aided  as  we  have  been  by  the 
noble  commemorative  discourse  of  the  afternoon, 
and  the  interesting  historical  paper  of  the  evening. 
It  has  been  the  pleasure,  sometimes,  of  histo 
rians  to  attribute  fabulous  qualities  to  the  early 
chiefs  and  founders  of  the  nations  whose  annals 
they  celebrate.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  claimed 
theirs  to  be  among  the  gods  of  classic  mythology. 
The  King  Arthurs  and  King  Alfreds  of  Britain's 
centuries  of  romance  may  be  invested  with  such 
qualities,  or  seen  through  such  colors,  as  romance 
or  poetry  may  select.  But  we  know  the  founders 
of  New  England  as  they  were.  They  live  for  us 
in  their  works,  in  the  legislation  of  their  colony,  in 
the  chronicles  of  their  churches,  so  faithfully  re 
calling  their  doubts  and  their  trials.  We  know 
them  in  the  intercourse  of  daily  life,  —  in  their 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH    OF  CHARLESTOWN.     149 

struggles  with  want,  with  the  savages  who  encom 
passed  them,  arid  their  far  severer  struggles  to 
reach  that  exalted  faith  and  experience  more  val 
uable  than  any  earthly  blessings.  We  know  them 
in  their  most  intimate  correspondence  with  friends, 
revealing  the  deepest  and  tenderest  secrets  of  their 
hearts.  Everywhere  they  are  the  same  in  this, 
-  that  they  have  no  fears  of  any  earthly  power, 
no  repinings,  however  hard  misfortune  may  be 
upon  them,  so  long  as  they  feel  they  are  doing  the 
work  of  the  Lord.  For  them,  earthly  honors  were 
nothing,  their  religious  and  spiritual  freedom  every 
thing  ;  and  yet  with  this  they  knew  that  their 
civil  freedom  was  united.  As  we  behold  them,  — 
grave  it  may  be  that  they  were  in  aspect,  for  the 
responsibility  they  have  assumed  is  solemn,  and  it 
is  due  to  no  earthly  power  ;  stern  it  may  be  that 
they  were  in  feature,  for  an  indomitable  will  can 
alone  sustain  them ;  plain,  it  may  be,  even  to 
rudeness,  they  may  be  in  dress,  for  the  work  they 
are  to  do  in  the  world  is  not  for  those  who  wear 
soft  raiment  or  who  dwell  in  kings'  houses,  —  yet 
could  we  see  them  as  they  once  stood  here,  we 
should  know  how  high  resolve,  earnest  purpose, 
devoted  faith,  had  impressed  itself  upon  and  dig 
nified  their  rugged  features. 

But  although  the  means  of  knowing  them  well 
are  revealed  to  us  in  so  many  ways,  it  is  not  easy  to 
judge  them  fairly.  It  is  because  we  cannot  sepa 
rate  ourselves  from  that  which  surrounds  us  so 
as  to  look  out  upon  life  as  they  looked  upon 


150     THE  FIRST   CHURCH  OF   CHARLESTOWN. 

it.  They  have  a  right  to  be  judged  from  their 
own  standpoint,  and  from  the  temper,  spirit,  and 
thought  of  the  age  which  was  about  them.  They 
were  men  in  lofty  conception  far  above  the  age  in 
.which  they  lived ;  yet  the  age  in  which  they  lived 
constituted  an  environment  out  of  which  no  man 
ever  entirely  burst. 

"  The  Puritans,"  says  Lord  Macaulay,  "  were 
perhaps  the  most  remarkable  body  of  men  the 
world  has  ever  known."  There  has  been  far  too 
great  a  disposition  to  describe  them  by  their  de 
ficiencies  and  limitations,  rather  than  by  their 
great  and  positive  merits.  It  is  said  that  they 
sternly  repressed  here  every  form  of  religious 
worship  except  their  own ;  yet  it  is  to  be  remem 
bered  that  they  lived  in  an  age  when  no  such  thing 
as  toleration  was  known.  Persecution  was  the 
rule  and  not  the  exception.  They  deemed  also  — 
and  perhaps  rightly  deemed  —  that  in  no  other 
way  could  they  preserve  and  sustain  the  faith 
which  was  the  anchor  of  their  hope,  than  by  con 
fining  their  colony  to  those  of  their  own  church, 
or  those  affiliated  to  it.  This  was  the  extent  of 
their  claim.  For  the  enjoyment  of  that  which  was 
dear  to  them  they  left  the  homes  of  their  fathers, 
they  braved  the  stormy  sea,  they  contended  with 
the  stern  soil  and  inhospitable  climate,  and  all 
the  terrors  of  a  savage  wilderness.  They  invited 
no  one  to  share  their  dangers ;  they  desired  no 
one  whose  presence  might  imperil  the  existence 
of  their  faith.  It  was  the  peculiarity  of  their 


THE  FIRST   CHURCH    OF  CHARLESTOWtf.     151 

situation  here,  rather  than  any  erroneous  general 
view  of  the  rights  of  all  men  to  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  that  caused  them  to  wish  that  all  who 
came  here  should  be  of  their  own  faith.  The  emi 
gration  to  New  England  was  largely  developed 
by  the  struggle  which  had  already  commenced  be 
tween  King  Charles  and  his  Parliament.  However 
that  might  end,  one  place  these  men  were  deter 
mined  should  exist  where  they  could  worship  God 
in  their  own  way.  For  this  they  must  hold  their 
power  untrammelled  by  those  who  cherished  other 
modes  of  belief.  That  emigration  went  on,  as  it  is 
usually  estimated,  until  something  over  4wenty 
thousand  had  arrived  here  from  England.  It 
ceased  then,  for  Charles  and  his  Parliament  were 
at  last  in  open  war,  and  the  place  of  all  who 
thought  as  they  did  was  in  England.  Many  men 
who  had  come  to  Massachusetts  returned  to  join 
in  the  struggle  there.  They  went  to  stand  in  the 
ranks  of  Skippon  and  Ireton ;  or  to  ride,  it  may 
be,  by  the  side  of  Oliver  himself,  as  with  his  Iron 
sides,  he  beat  down  and  trampled  under  foot  Prince 
Rupert  and  his  cavaliers  ;  or,  it  may  be,  —  like 
the  noblest  of  their  number,  Hugh  Peters  and  Sir 
Harry  Vane,  —  to  seal  their  devotion  to  their  faith 
upon  the  block.  When  power  came  —  as  it  did 
come  —  into  the  hands  of  the  English  Puritans,  the 
religious  belief  of  others  was  respected.  Mr.  Hume, 
the  bitterest  of  their  critics,  says  of  them  :  "  Of  all 
Christian  sects,  this  was  the  first  which  during  its 
prosperity  as  well  as  its  adversity  always  adopted 


152     THE   FIRST   CHURCH   OF   CHARLESTOWK 

the  principle  of  toleration.'*  Of  course,  Mr.  Hume 
is  careful  to  add  one  of  his  usual  sneers,  by  re 
marking  that  it  is  extraordinary  that  what  is  so 
just  should  have  proceeded,  not  from  -  reasoning, 
but  from  extravagance  and  fanaticism. 

The  connection  which  our  fathers  of  1630  made 
between  the  government  of  the  Church  and  that 
of  the  State  —  or  more  properly,  the  Colony  —  was 
soon  dissolved.  While  the  law  that  each  freeman 
must  be  a  church-member  appears  to  have  con 
tinued  until  the  colonial  passed  into  the  provincial 
government,  yet  it  was  latterly  neglected  and  dis 
regarded.  The  things  which  were  Caesar's  went 
to  Caesar. 

But  although  all  this  was  just  and  necessary,  — > 
and  although  the'  Massachusetts  which  they  knew 
was  but  a  feeble  colony,  fringing  with  its  scattered 
hamlets  the  stormy  sea,  and  that  which  we  know 
is  a  wealthy  and  powerful  State,  an  integral  por 
tion  of  a  vast  nation  whose  gateways  are  upon 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  seas,  —  let  the  example 
of  our  Puritan  founders  remain  with  us  always* 
The  noble  lives  they  led  in  want  and  privation 
and  danger  do  not  pass  away  utterly.  We  will 
strive  at  least  that  the  lessons  they  taught  of  self- 
devotion,  the  sacrifices  they  made  for  liberty,  the 
high  ideals  they  held  up  of  virtue  and  courage, 
the  lofty  standard  they  maintained  of  religion 
and  piety,  shall  not  be  altogether  forgotten.  No 
men  have  ever  impressed  themselves  more  upon 
a  nation  than  have  the  Puritan  founders  of  New 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH  OF   CHARLESTOWN.     153 

England.  The  principles  dear  to  them,  and  to 
which  they  devoted  their  lives,  are  in  the  vanguard 
of  every  struggle  for  justice  or  liberty. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  one  earnest  wish  for 
the  prosperity  of  this  ancient  church.  Apart  from 
its  great  historic  associations,  it  is  dear  to  me  by 
the  tender  memory  of  many  who  were  its  honored 
and  respected  members,  with  'whom  I  am  con 
nected  by  blood  and  family  ties,  two  of  whom 
are  commemorated  on  the  walls  around  us.  For 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  its  voice  has  been 
heard,  instructing  and  inspiring  thousands  of 
grateful  and  responsive  hearts.  So  may  it  be  for 
centuries  to  come !  Still  may  its  voice  go  forth 
summoning  men  to  higher  and  nobler  lives,  in 
solemn  remembrance  of  him  to  whom  they  are 
accountable,  rebuking  —  if  rebuke  be  needed  — 
tenderly  and  charitably,  yet  encouraging  and  con 
soling  always.  Although  forms  of  worship  may 
change,  although  the  solemn  swell  of  the  organ  or 
the  pealing  of  the  chimes  above  our  heads  might 
have  seemed  to  those  who  founded  this  church  in 
consistent  with  the  severe  simplicity  dear  to  them, 
yet  these  are  but  accessories  only.  We  will  not 
doubt  that  in  the  brighter  light  in  which  they 
stand,  and  with  the  larger  vision  with  which  now 
they  see,  they  will  acknowledge  their  communion 
with  it  so  long  as,  in  the  language  of  the  covenant 
made  here,  —  often  quoted  to-day,  and  yet  not  too 
often,  —  it  shall  teach  men  to  walk  in  all  their 


154     THE  FIRST   CHURCH  OF  CHARLESTOWN. 

ways  according  to  the  rule  of  the  gospel,  and  in 
all  sincere  conformity  to  the  holy  ordinances  of 
our  Saviour,  and  "  in  mutual  love  and  respect, 
each  to  the  other,  so  near  as  God  shall  give  us 
grace." 


COMMEMORATIVE    ADDRESS    ON 
GENERAL  GRANT. 

DELIVERED   AT  FANEUIL  HALL,  BOSTON,  JULY  26,  1885. 


YOUR  EXCELLENCY,  FELLOW-CITIZENS,  —  A  na 
tion  has  watched  by  the  dying  couch  of  its  great 
est  citizen.  The  leader  of  its  armies  in  battle, 
the  head  of  its  civil  government  in  peace,  —  anx 
iety,  hope,  and  fear  have  contended,  until  at  last  it 
became  certain  that  human  efforts  were  in  vain, 
and  that  he  who  had  been  a  tower  of  strength 
in  the  hour  of  a  people's  agony  was  to  pass  from 
among  living  men.  Well  may  a  nation  swell  the 
funeral  cry  for  him  whose  strong  hand  and  daring 
heart  secured  and  protected  its  life. 

As  he  has  waited  in  the  august  majesty  of 
impending  death,  there  have  seemed  to  gather 
round  him  the  tender  memories  of  all  who  offered 
their  lives  for  their  country  in  our  great  civil  strife. 
The  crowds  that  collected  about  his  house  in  the 
great  city,  when  some  two  or  three  months  ago 
his  death  seemed  immediate,  were  not  mere  curi 
osity-seekers  :  there  were  fathers  and  brothers; 
there  were  mothers  that  had  given  their  sons ; 
there  were  girls  (elderly  women  now)  who  had 
given  up  their  lovers.  To  me  these  groups  seem 


156      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

infinitely  affecting,  for  they  were  of  those  who  in 
that  struggle  had  parted  forever  from  their  best 
and  noblest.  To  the  great  chieftain  who  had  led 
their  brave  through  so  many  a  hot  and  bloody 
day  they  brought  the  mute  offering  of  their  rev 
erence  and  love,  for  it  was  to  him  they  owed  it 
that  those  noble  lives  had  not  been  sacrificed  in 
vain.  As  he  was  the  chieftain,  so  he  was  the 
representative  of  the  Federal  Army,  —  that  army 
which,  springing  from  the  people  itself,  vindicated 
the  integrity  of  the  American  Union,  swept  from 
its  States  the  curse  of  slavery,  and  lifted  a  nation 
to  a  higher  and  nobler  life.  That  great  army  has 
passed  away  long  since,  yet  it  shall  not  be  for 
gotten  that  in  its  day  and  generation,  and  in  its 
time  and  placer  it  did  for  this  country  deeds 
worthy  of  immortal  honor.  It  is  twenty-four  years 
since  the  great  battle-summer  of  1861.  To  each 
of  us  they  have  brought  joy  and  sorrow  in  their 
mingled  web ;  but  we  turn  back  to  that  time 
freshly  still  as  the  tolling  bell  and  the  muffled 
drum  announce  that  Grant  has  sunk  to  his  final 
repose. 

"  Ne'er  to  the  chambers  where  the  mighty  rest 
Since  their  foundation  came  a  nobler  guest." 

To-day  is  not  one  for  criticism,  even  if  it  be 
candid  and  not  unkindly.  Our  sense  of  loss  is  too 
acute  ;  our  emotions  are  too  keen.  Nor  perhaps  at 
any  time  could  those  of  us  who  have  followed 
him,  who  have  known  what  it  was  to  lean  upon 
that  determined  will,  who  have  seen  him  with  the 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.      157 

light  of  battle  on  his  cheek,  assume  to  speak  of 
him  with  the  cold  neutrality  of  impartial  history. 
If  to  that  great  tribunal  all  must  come,  we  are  not 
competent  to  sit  thereon  as  judges.  Some  future 
historian,  some  Parkman,  some  Bancroft,  shall 
compare  him  with  the  great  captains  of  antiquity 
or  of  modern  history,  shall  weigh  in  nice  scales  his 
successes  or  his  failures,  the  means  at  his  com 
mand,  the  purposes  he  had  in  view,  the  results  he 
finally  accomplished,  and  shall  then  assign  him  his 
appropriate  place.  High  although  it  must  be,  for 
this  I  shall  care  little,  for  his  name  is  written 
indelibly  upon  a  nobler  list.  His  place  is  not  with 
the  Caesars  and  the  Hannibals,  the  Fredericks  or 
Napoleons,  —  the  conquerors  who  have  waded 
to  fame  or  empire  through  blood  and  carnage, 
—  but  with  those  who  in  the  hour  of  danger 
and  distress  have  borne  upon  their  shoulders  the 
weight  of  mighty  States,  who  have  preferred 
patriotism,  duty,  and  honor  to  any  selfish  aggran 
dizement,  who  have  drawn  the  sword  reluctantly, 
who  have  sheathed  it  willingly  when  the  time  for 
reconciliation  had  come,  and  at  the  head  of  whom 
stands,  peerless  and  immortal,  our  own  Wash 
ington.  His  fame,  like  that  of  Washington,  shall 
form  forever  one  of  the  brightest  jewels  in  the 
radiant  crown  of  the  Eepublic.  It  shall  broaden  and 
widen  as  her  domains  shall  spread,  as  her  vast  and 
fertile  wastes  shall  be  peopled,  and  as  great  cities 
shall  rise  where  to-day  only  the  hum  of  the  wild 
bee  breaks  the  stillness  of  the  fragrant  air.  Yet 


158      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

to  no  generation  of  men  can  he  be  all  that  he  has 
been  to  us.  Already  to  many  almost  approaching 
middle  life  his  achievements  are  but  historical. 
But  with  us,  who  were  of  his  time,  there  is  a 
personal  love  and  veneration  towards  him  which 
cannot  be  communicated  to  others.  All  around 
him  throughout  the  broad  land  there  stretches 
the  wide  circle  of  those  who  perhaps  never  looked 
upon  his  bodily  presence,  but  who  feel  his  loss  as  a 
personal  grief.  He  has  so  inwrought  himself  with 
their  just  and  patriotic  feeling  in  the  years 
that  are  past  that  to  them  the  earth  itself  seems 
less  fair,  this  gorgeous,  glowing  summer  less 
bright,  now  that  he  is  gone.  Willingly  would 
I  speak  some  words  that  shall  tell  the  love  we 
have  borne  him,  the  honor  in  which  we  hold  his 
great  deeds,  the  gratitude  we  have  for  all  he  has 
so  splendidly  done,  but  I  realize  how  poor  my 
utterance  is. 

The  mean  and  sordid  pecuniary  cares  that  vexed 
his  closing  years  of  life  but  showed  how  truly 
resolute  and  upright  he  was.  In  selecting  men  in 
military  life  in  whom  to  repose  confidence,  his 
view  was  singularly  correct  and  just ;  it  might  be 
said  to  be  perfect.  He  was  a  soldier  to  the 
inmost  core ;  he  knew  everything  that  he  needed 
then,  and  made  no  mistakes.  His  education  and 
studies  had  not  fitted  him  with  the  same  judg 
ment  in  civil  life.  It  was  an  error  of  a  trustful, 
generous  nature  that  led  him  to  stand  by  those  in 
whom  he  had  once  reposed  confidence,  even  after 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.      159 

there  was  legitimate  reason  for  distrust.  He  gave 
generously  and  withdrew  reluctantly,  and  thus  as 
a  civilian  he  was  more  than  once  grievously 
abused  in  official  life.  That  he  should  show  the 
same  disposition  in  dealing  with  his  private  and 
personal  affairs  might  have  been  anticipated  ;  but 
it  was  an  error  which  most  cruelly  he  was  com 
pelled  to  answer.  Betrayed  by  cunning,  intrigu 
ing  knaves,  when  financial  ruin  came,  he  met  it 
with  the  old  calm  resolution.  He  was  ready  at 
once  to  strip  himself  of  all  he  possessed,  even  of 
the  very  gifts  which  were  the  just  memorials  of 
his  fame,  that  he  might  satisfy  those  who  had 
trusted  in  him.  Financial  and  commercial  honor 
were  as  dear  to  him  as  any  other  honor.  Calmly 
and  resolutely  he  devoted  himself  to  those  unaccus 
tomed  labors  by  which  he  hoped  to  provide  for 
those  he  was  to  leave  behind  him ;  and  although 
racking  pains  always  assailed  him,  although  the 
weary  brain  and  the  once  strong  hand  from  time 
to  time  refused  their  office,  he  had  the  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  what  he  had  undertaken  he  had 
accomplished.  Recognition  of  his  great  services, 
even  if  somewhat  tardily,  came  in  his  restoration 
to  that  position  in  the  army  which  he  had 
resigned  in  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  country, 
and  it  was  a  profound  gratification  to  him  to  feel, 
ere  he  passed  away,  that  the  pecuniary  future  of 
his  family  would  be  provided  for.  Let  them 
believe  that  the  tenderest  love  of  a  grateful  people 
will  encompass  them  always. 


160      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

It  is  twenty  years  since  the  only  name  worthy 
to  be  mentioned  with  that  of  General  Grant  has 
passed  into  history.  It  seems  like  a  caprice  of 
fortune  that  while  the  great  soldier  of  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion  went  almost  unscathed  through  an 
hundred  fights,  its  great  statesman  should  die  by 
the  assassin's  hand.  As  to  the  great  Hebrew 
chieftain  who  had  led  Israel  through  the  Red  Sea 
and  the  desert,  it  was  ordained  that  be  should 
but  look  on  the  promised  land,  so  to  Abraham 
Lincoln  it  was  given  but  to  know  that  the  Union 
was  restored,  that  his  life's  work  was  done,  and  to 
die  in  the  hour  of  final  triumph.  Between  these 
great  men,  from  the  day  they  met  (and  they  had 
never  seen  each  other's  faces  until  after  nearly 
three  years  of  war)  until  the  day  Mr.  Lincoln  died, 
there  had  been  the  most  generous  confidence,  the 
most  trustful  regard,  the  most  firm  faith  that  each 
had  done  in  the  past  and  would  do  in  the  future 
the  utmost  possible  to  sustain  the  other.  How 
like  a  wonderful  romance  it  reads,  that  in  that 
time  of  less  than  three  years,  from  a  simple 
captain,  whose  offer  of  his  services  to  the  War 
Department  was  thought  of  so  little  consequence 
that  the  letter,  although  since  carefully  searched 
for,  cannot  be  found,  Grant  had  risen  from  rank 
to  rank  until  he  became  the  lieutenant-general 
who  was  to  unite  all  the  military  springs  of  action 
in  a  single  hand,  to  govern  them  by  a  single  will, 
to  see  (to  use  his  own  expression)  that  the  armies 
of  the  Union  pulled  no  longer  "  like  a  balky 


ADDRESS    ON    GENERAL   GRANT.  161 

team,"  but  were  moved  and  animated  by  a  single 
purpose.  Yet  his  way  had  not  been  one  of  unin 
terrupted  success,  and  there  had  been  no  success 
that  had  not  been  won  by  'his  own  wisdom  and 
courage.  He  had  seized  and  controlled  the  Ohio, 
and  held  Kentucky  in  the  Union  ;  he  had  opened 
the  Tennessee  and  the  Cumberland  by  the  victories 
of  Forts  Henry  and  Dorielson  ;  but  the  much-misun 
derstood  battle  of  Shiloh  had  reduced  him,  uncom 
plaining  always,  to  a  subordinate  command  under 
General  Halleck,  whose  own  failure  at  Corinth 
finally  gave  to  him  at  last  the  command  of  all 
forces  operating  to  open  the  Mississippi.  Again 
and  again  during  the  often-repeated  repulses  from 
Vicksburg  there  had  been  attempts  to  remove  him, 
mainly  at  the  instance  of  those  who  did  not 
comprehend  the  vastness  of  the  problem  with 
which  he  had  to  deal.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  stood  by 
him,  saying  in  his  peculiar  way,  "  I  rather  like 
that  man ;  I  guess  I  will  try  him  a  little  longer," 
until  at  last  Vicksburg  was  taken  by  a  movement 
marked  with  the  audacity  of  a  master  in  the  art  of 
war,  who  dares  to  violate  established  rules  and 
make  exceptions  when  great  emergencies  demand 
that  great  risks  shall  be  run.  The  Fourth  of  July, 
1863,  was  the  proudest  day  the  armies  of  the  Union 
up  to  that  time  had  ever  known,  for  the  thunders 
of  the  cannon  that  announced  in  the  East  the  great 
victory  of  Gettysburg  were  answered  from  the  West 
by  those  that  told  that  the  Mississippi  in  all  its 
mighty  length  ran  unvexed  to  the  sea. 

11 


162      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

His  victory  at  Chattanooga  followed  the  placing 
of  the  armies  of  the  West  under  his  sole  control, 
and  the  time  had  come  when  he  was  to  direct  the 
armies  of  the  whole  Union.  His  place  was  there 
after  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  the  most 
decisive  point  of  struggle,  although  its  immediate 
command  remained  with  General  Meade.  It  was 
only  thus  and  through  its  vicinity  to  the  Capital 
that  he  could  direct  every  military  operation.  As 
he  entered  upon  the  great  campaign  of  1864,  Mr. 
Lincoln  said,  "  If  there  is  anything  wanting  which 
is  within  my  power  to  give,  do  not  fail  to  let  me 
know  it.  And  now  with  a  brave  army  and  a  just 
cause  ma.y  God  sustain  you  !  "  And  General  Grant 
had  answered,  "  Should  my  success  be  less  than 
I  desire  or  expect,  the  least  I  can  say  is,  the  fault 
is  not  with  you."  Side  by  side  they  stood  to 
gether  through  all  the  desperate  days  that  ensued, 
until  in  April,  1865,  the  terrific  and  protracted 
struggle  was  ended  between  the  two  great  armies 
of  the  East  ;  the  long-tried,  always  faithful  Army 
of  the  Potomac  held  its  great  rival,  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  in  the  iron  embrace  of  its  gleam 
ing  wall  of  bayonets ;  and  the  sword  of  Lee  was 
laid  in  the  conquering  hand  of  Grant.  Side  by 
side  Lincoln  and  Grant  will  stand  forever  in  the 
Pantheon  of  history  ;  and  somewhere  in  the  eter 
nal  plan  we  would  willingly  believe  those  great 
spirits  shall  yet  guard  and  shield  the  land  they 
loved  and  served  so  well. 

Whatever  General  Grant's  errors  or  his  weak- 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.      163 

nesses,  —  and  he  was  mortal,  —  like  the  spots  on 
the  sun,  they  but  show  the  brightness  of  the 
surrounding  surface  ;  and  we  readily  forget  them 
as  we  remember  the  vast  debt  we  owe  to  him. 
Whether  or  not  we  could  have  achieved  success 
without  him,  it  is  certain  that  only  through  him  we 
did  achieve  success.  He  was  thoroughly  patriotic, 
and  his  patriotism  sprang  from  his  faith  in  the 
American  Union.  He  had  been  educated  to  the  ser 
vice  of  the  government ;  he  had  looked  to  this  rather 
than  to  the  parties  that  exist  under  it,  whose  zeal 
sometimes  leads  men  to  forget  that  there  can  be 
no  party  success  worth  having  that  is  not  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  His  political  affiliations  were  slight 
enough,  perhaps,  but  they  had  not  been  with  the 
party  that  elected  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  knew  well, 
however,  that  this  frame  of  government,  once 
destroyed,  could  never  be  reconstructed.  He  had 
no  faith  in  any  theory  which  made  the  United 
States  powerless  to  protect  itself.  He  compre 
hended  fully  the  real  reason  why  the  slave  States, 
dissatisfied  with  just  and  necessary  restraint,  sought 
to  extricate  themselves  from  the  Union ;  and  he 
knew  that  a  war  commencing  for  its  integrity 
would  broaden  and  widen  until  it  became  one  for 
the  liberty  of  all  men,  and  there  was  neither 
master  nor  slave  in  the  land.  His  letter  to  his 
brother-in-law,  lately  published,  although  written 
during  the  first  week  of  the  war,  his  written 
remark  to  General  Buckner,  in  their  interesting 
interview  just  before  he  died,  "  that  the  war  had 


164  ADDRESS  ON   GENERAL   GRANT. 

been  worth  all  that  it  had  cost,"  show  how 
strongly  he  felt  that,  purified  by  the  fires  of  the 
Rebellion,  the  Union  had  risen  grand  and  more 
august  among  nations.  Who  shall  say  he  was  not 
right  ?  Who  shall  say  that  if  all  the  noble  lives 
so  freely  offered  could  be  restored,  but  with  them 
must  return  the  once  discordant  Union  with  its 
system  of  slavery,  they  who  gave  would  consent 
to  have  them  purchased  back  at  such  a  price  ? 

General  Grant  was  not  of  those  who  supposed 
that  the  conflict  with  the  South  was  to  be  any 
summer's  day  campaign  ;  he  knew  the  position  of 
the  South,  its  resources,  its  military  capacity,  and 
the  fact  that,  acting  on  the  defensive,  it  would 
move  its  armies  on  interior  lines.  He  recognized 
the  difficulty  in  dealing  with  so  vast  an  extent  of 
territory  ;  and  he  knew  that  in  a  war  with  a 
hostile  people  rather  than  a  hostile  army  only,  we 
could  often  hold  but  the  tracts  of  territory  im 
mediately  under  our  camp-fires.  Yet  he  never 
doubted  of  ultimate  success.  He  never  believed 
that  this  country  was  to  be  rent  asunder  by 
faction  or  dragged  to  its  doom  by  traitors.  He 
said  to  General  Badeau  once,  who  had  asked  him 
if  the  prospect  never  appalled  him,  that  he  had 
always  felt  perfectly  certain  of  success.  Thus 
though  to  him  many  days  were  dark  and  disas 
trous,  none  were  despondent.  "  The  simple  faith 
in  success  you  have  always  manifested,"  said 
Sherman  to  him,  "  I  can  liken  to  nothing  else  than 
the  faith  a  Christian  has  in  the  Saviour."  His 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.      165 

remarkable  persistence  has  caused  him  sometimes 
to  be  looked  on  as  a  mere  dogged  fighter.  No 
suggestion  could  be  more  preposterous.  He  felt 
sure  of  his  plan  before  he  commenced  ;  then 
temporary  obstructions  and  difficulties  did  not 
dismay  him,  and  whatever  were  the  checks,  he 
went  on  with  resolution  to  the  end. 

If  stern  and  unyielding  in  the  hour  of  conflict, 
in  the  hour  of  victory  no  man  was  ever  more 
generous  and  magnanimous.  He  felt  always  that 
those  with  whom  we  warred  were  our  erring 
countrymen,  and  that  when  they  submitted  to  the 
inevitable  changes  that  war  had  made,  strife  was 
at  an  end  ;  but  he  never  proposed  to  yield  or 
tamper  with  what  had  been  won  for  liberty  and 
humanity  in  that  strife. 

He  has  passed  beyond  our  mortal  sight,  — 
sustained  and  soothed  by  the  devotion  of  friends 
and  comrades,  by  the  love  of  a  people,  by  the 
affectionate  respect  and  regard  of  many  once  in 
arms  against  him.  In  that  home  where  he  was 
almost  worshipped,  "  he  has  wrapped  the  drapery 
of  his  couch  about  him  "  as  one  that  lies  down 
to  pleasant  dreams.  Front  to  front  on  many 
a  field  he  had  met  the  grim  destroyer  where  the 
death-dealing  missiles  rained  thick  and  fast  from 
the  rattling  rifles  and  the  crashing  cannon.  He 
neither  quailed  nor  blenched,  although  death  came 
at  last  with  a  summons  that  could  not  be  denied, 
when  all  that  makes  life  dear  was  around  him. 
He  could  not  but  know  he  was  to  live  still  in 


166      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

memory  as  long  as  the  great  flag  around  which 
his  fighting  legions  rallied  should  wave  above 
a  united  people.  To  most  men  the  call  of  death 
is  terrible  ; 

"  But  to  the  hero  when  his  sword  has  won 

The  battle  of  the  free, 
That  voice  sounds  like  a  prophet's  word, 
And  in  its  hollow  tones  are  heard 
The  thanks  of  millions  yet  to  be." 


COMMEMORATIVE     ADDRESS    ON 
GENERAL    GRANT. 

DELIVERED   AT   WORCESTER,    AUGUST  8,  1885. 


MR.  MAYOR,  FELLOW-CITIZENS,  —  When  we  who 
were  soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  first 
saw  General  Grant,  he  was  already  illustrious. 
The  great  battles  on  the  Cumberland  and  the  Ten 
nessee  had  been  fought.  Already  the  Missis 
sippi  rolled  proudly  to  the  sea ;  no  Rebel  fortresses 
frowned  from  its  banks,  no  Rebel  squadrons  cruised 
upon  its  waters.  His  great  victory  at  Chatta 
nooga  had  repaired  the  disaster  of  Chickamauga ; 
and  the  West  seemed  to  be  coming  firmly  within 
our  grasp. 

Yet  the  war  was  pressing  heavily,  enormous 
debts  were  being  contracted,  thousands  of  brave 
men  had  fallen,  and  it  was  seen  that  thousands 
must  yet  fall  before  we  could  achieve  the  task  we 
had  undertaken.  No  wiser  act  was  ever  done  by 
Congress  than  that  which  created  for  Grant  the 
office  of  lieutenant-general,  whose  station  might 
be  with  either  army,  as  he  might  select,  but  whose 
control  and  direction  were  to  be  over  all.  His 
.command  over  the  armies  operating  west  of  the 
Alleghanies  had  already  fully  demonstrated  his 


168      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

vast  powers  of .  combination,  his  capacity  for  the 
widest  fields  of  strategy,  as  well  as  his  terrific 
energy  in  battle.  Then  this  new  and  great  respon 
sibility  was  placed  upon  him.  "  If  I  succeed/'  he 
said  solemnly,  as  he  received  his  commission  from 
the  hands  of  the  President,  "  it  will  be  due  to  our 
brave  armies,  and,  above  all,  to  the  favor  of  that 
Providence  which  leads  both  nations  and  men." 

He  had  been  urged  in  accepting  this  high  com 
mand  to  remain  with  the  armies  of  the  West. 
"  Stay  with  us,"  said  Sherman ;  "  let  us  make  it 
dead  sure  ; "  but  in  the  hands  of  Sherman  himself 
and  Thomas,  the  West  was  "  dead  sure  "  already, 
and  Grant  knew  that  the  time  had  come  when  he 
must  more  immediately  measure  himself  "  with 
the  foremost  army  of  the  Confederacy  led  by  its 
foremost  man."  He  knew  that  to  the  great  strug 
gle  between  the  armies  of  the  Potomac  and  of 
Northern  Virginia  other  operations,  vast  although 
they  were,  were  subsidiary  only.  Two  more  tried, 
determined,  better  armies  the  world  had  never 
seen.  Battle,  disease,  defeat,  had  wasted  both,  vic 
tory  had  rewarded  both ;  but  for  either  to  rout  the 
other  had  been  impossible.  Each  when  it  won 
had  gained  but  a  few  miles,  or  it  might  be  rods,  of 
territory.  Each  as  it  drew  off  from  a  day  of  dis 
aster  drew  off  sternly  in  perfect  order,  and  like 
"slow  Ajax  fighting  still,"  retired. 

How  complete  General  Grant's  control  was  over 
every  one  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States 
from  the  da}7  he  took  supreme  command,  the 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.      169 

records  of  the  War  Department  bear  witness, — 
as  complete  in  general  direction  over  that  with 
which  Sherman  marched  to  the  sea  or  that  which 
Thomas  directed  to  its  splendid  victory  at  Nash 
ville  as  over  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  No 
general  could  falter  or  hesitate  for  advice  or  di 
rection  which  he  was  not  ready  to  afford  ;  none 
needed  encouragement  or  urging  when  he  was  not 
prepared  to  speak  the  words  which  the  occasion 
demanded.  Over  the  vast  realm  where  the  gigan 
tic  conflict  was  raging,  that  eagle  eye  ranged  with 
far-seeing,  watchful  gaze,  anxious  that  nothing, 
however  small,  should  escape  his  care  in  that 
one  determined  purpose  of  crushing  the  Rebellion. 
While  the  great  battle  of  the  Wilderness  was  be 
ing  fought  around  him,  he  was  sending  despatches 
to  Sherman,  more  than  a  thousand  miles  away,  as 
to  his  campaign. 

That  his  military  genius  wras  vast  and  compre 
hensive  no  one  can  question  or  deny.  As  a  gen 
eral  he  was  thoroughly  aggressive,  alike  from 
natural  character  and  from  the  military  position 
in  which  he  was  always  placed.  He  felt  deeply 
the  suggestions  sometimes  made  that  he  was  hard 
and  stern,  that  he  sometimes  risked  the  lives  of 
his  men  needlessly.  He  knew  well  that  from  his 
constant  attacks  his  losses  must  of  necessity  be 
greater  than  those  of  the  army  he  opposed,  but  he 
believed  that  (the  advantage  of  position  in  stand 
ing  on  the  defensive  being  always  with  the  Rebel 
Army)  the  true  way  to  close  the  war  was  to  strike 


170  ADDRESS  OX  GENERAL   GRANT. 

resolutely  and  hard,  and  that  this  was  not  in  the 
long  run  to  sacrifice,  but  to  save  life,  although  the 
immediate  loss  might  be  severe.  No  man  ever  felt 
more  fully  that  the  life  of  every  soldier  was  his  in 
solemn  trust,  and  that  it  must  not  be  wantonly 
imperilled.  "I  cannot  do  that,"  he  once  said  to 
General  Halleck,  who  had  recommended  a  par 
ticular  attack  ;  "  it  might  succeed,  but  it  would 
cost  the  lives  of  more  men  than  I  have  a  right  to 
risk  for  such  an  advantage." 

He  is  often  spoken  of  as  if  there  were  some 
thing  mysterious  about  his  character,  as  if  there 
were  some  riddle  to  unravel.  This  is  evidently  an 
error ;  no  man  had  less  desire  to  deceive  others  or 
less  capacity  to  do  it.  He  kept  his  own  counsel,  it 
is  true.  He  worked  out  his  plans  carefully,  but 
he  was  always  ready  to  hear  those  who  had  any 
thing  worth  hearing.  He  carefully  watched  the 
plans  of  those  opposed  to  him,  using  every  availa 
ble  means  to  enlighten  himself.  He  thoughtfully 
sought  to  learn  what  was  the  best  thing  for  an 
opponent  to  do,  and  assumed  that  he  would  do  it. 
If  his  opponent  did  anything  less  than  this,  so 
much  the  worse  for  him.  He  had  measured  him 
self  in  his  career  with  every  great  general  of  the 
Confederacy ;  he  respected  their  abilities,  but  he 
had  seen  no  reason  to  distrust  his  own.  He  had 
confidence  in  his  own  judgment,  not  from  any  silly 
or  inflated  vanity,  but  because  he  believed  he  had 
mastered  the  problems  submitted  to  it.  Nothing 
was  ever  done  by  him  in  any  half-hearted  way,  or 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.      171 

as  if  he  felt  that  something  better  might  have 
been  attempted. 

No  general  ever  lived  more  calmly  resolute. 
He  by  no  means  despised  the  wisdom  of  those 
who  have  written  upon  the  art  of  war,  or  the 
soundness  of  the  more  general  principles  which 
experience  has  prescribed.  But  he  was  no  soldier 
of  the  book  or  the  school,  and  he  dared  to  violate 
their  rules  when  great  occasions  demanded.  Alone 
in  the  army  that  beleaguered  Vicksburg,  surrounded 
by  chiefs  who  shrank  from  no  danger  through 
which  courage  could  conduct  them,  he  matured 
his  final  plan  for  its  capture,  knowing  that  any 
council  of  war  would  condemn  it  as  too  hazar 
dous.  Silent  and  self-contained,  alone  he  deter 
mined  upon  it,  never  flinching,  never  doubting 
from  the  time  his  plan  had  its  first  conception 
until  its  triumphant  close ;  he  achieved  the  grand 
result  by  taking  counsel  of  his  own  calm  reflec 
tion,  his  own  indomitable  will,  his  own  daring 
heart. 

He  was  a  thoroughly  generous  and  just  man  in 
relation  to  the  officers  with  whom  he  was  associ 
ated,  to  the  armies  he  led,  to  the  armies  to  which 
he  was  opposed.  It  is  hard  for  a  soldier  to  be 
generous  in  matters  which  concern  his  own  glory 
and  renown,  yet  in  regard  to  Fort  Donelson  and 
Shiloh  he  was  so  generous  to  his  subordinates  that 
his  cordial  words  were  used  most  unjustly  to  de 
preciate  his  own  reputation  and  to  detract  from 
his  own  merits.  He  could  not  leave  the  -armies 


172      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

of  the  West  without  thanking  them  and  their 
leaders  for  their  devotion,  and  expressing  to  them 
how  strongly  he  felt  that  all  he  had  won  for  the 
country  or  gained  for  himself  was  due  to  them ; 
yet  he  was  not  less  just  to  the  brave  army  to 
which  he  more  immediately  came.  When  the 
preparations  for  the  last  struggle  in  the  spring  of 
1865  were  being  completed,  there  was  a  profound 
anxiety  on  his  part  that  the  war  should  be  ended 
at  once,  and  that  Lee  and  Johnston  should  neither 
unite  nor  escape.  Yet  when  it  was  proposed  to 
bring  troops  from  the  Western  armies  to  add  to 
the  strength  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  he  op 
posed  it.  He  felt  it  to  be  unwise  ;  that  jealousies 
would  arise  with  the  troops  of  the  Army  of  the 
West,  each  claiming  that  the  victory  was  its  own. 
He  felt  that  it  would  not  be  generous  to  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  He  had  full  confidence  in  its 
strength  and  courage  to  finish  its  work ;  and  he 
saw  that  it  would  not  be  just  that  any  other  arm}7 
should  divide  with  it  its  final  triumph.  How  well 
and  thoroughly  that  great  army  struck  its  final 
blow,  Appomattox  testifies ;  and  the  surrender 
shows  how  generously  Grant  dealt  with  those  who 
then  laid  down  their  arms.  It  was  but  in  the  line 
of  the  course  he  had  pursued  at  Fort  Donelson  and 
Vicksburg.  While  he  meant  that  the  full  fruits 
of  the  victory  should  be  secured ;  while  he  never 
faltered  in  his  determination  that  the  permanency 
of  the  government  should  be  clearly  vindicated ; 
while  he  never  questioned  that  the  States  lately 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT.      173 

in  rebellion  could  only  be  restored  with  every 
guaranty  that  the  freedom  of  the  race  once  en 
slaved  should  be  protected,  —  he  would  prescribe 
no  conditions  of  surrender  that  could  in  any  sense 
be  deemed  to  be  humiliating. 

We  cannot  to-day  undertake  to  fix  with  accu 
racy  the  character  of  our  heroic  leader  by  com 
parison  with  others  whom  history  has  rendered 
immortal,  yet  there  is  one  historical  sketch  that 
bears  so  many  points  of  resemblance  that  I  shall 
venture  to  quote  it.  It  was  with  much  interest  a 
few  months  since  that  we  celebrated  the  founding 
of  this  town  two  hundred  years  ago  by  three  sol 
diers  (one  an  officer  of  rank),  who  had  served 
under  Cromwell,  and  who,  perhaps,  had  seen  him 
that  morning  when  in  the  pouring  rain  in  which 
the  battle  of  Worcester  began  he  rode  down  the 
line  and  bade  his  soldiers  "  trust  in  the  Lord 
and  keep  their  powder  dry."  The  description 
which  Macaulay  gives  of  the  great  Puritan  leader, 
whom  our  fathers  loved  and  honored,  finds  its  al 
most  perfect  parallel  in  General  Grant.  It  is  in 
an  altogether  imaginary  dialogue,  assumed  to 
have  been  between  the  Royalist  poet  Cowley  and 
John  Milton.  I  read  the  words  as  Milton  is  sup 
posed  to  utter  them,  omitting  but  an  unimportant 
fragment  :  — 

"  Because  he  was  an  ungraceful  orator,  and  never  said 
either  in  public  or  private  anything  memorable,  you  will 
have  it  that  he  was  of  mean  capacity.  Sure  this  is  unjust. 
Many  men  have  there  been  ignorant  of  letters,  without 


174      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

wit,  without  eloquence,  who  yet  had  the  wisdom  to  devise 
and  the  courage  to  perform  that  which  they  lacked  lan 
guage  to  explain.  Such  men  often  have  worked  out  the 
deliverance  of  nations  and  their  own  greatness,  not  by 
logic,  not  by  rhetoric,  but  by  wariness  in  success,  by 
calmness  in  danger,  by  firm  and  stubborn  resolution  in 
all  adversity.  The  hearts  of  men  are  their  books  ;  events 
are  their  tutors  ;  great  actions  are  their  eloquence  ;  and 
such  a  one  in  my  judgment  was  his  late  Highness.  .  .  . 
His  own  deeds  shall  avouch  him  for  a  great  statesman,  a 
great  soldier,  a  true  lover  of  his  country,  a  merciful  and 
generous  conqueror." 

Fellow-citizens,  it  is  a  solemn  day  on  which  we 
part  from  all  that  was  mortal  in  this  illustrious 
man.  If  it  be  a  day  of  mourning,  it  is  one  of 
thankfulness  and  gratitude  also.  If  much  is  taken 
from  us,  it  is  because  much  was  given  to  us.  I 
contrast  the  noble  and  beautiful  death  of  this 
patriot  soldier  with  that  of  the  mightiest  con 
queror  Europe  ever  knew,  and  I  bow  in  reverence 
before  the  great  Controller  of  events,  who  has 
ordained  that  even  in  this  world  men  are  rewarded 
according  to  their  works. 

There  is  in  the  Corcoran  Gallery  at  Washington 
the  beautiful  statue  by  Vela  of  Napoleon  as  he  is 
dying  at  St.  Helena.  It  is  the  saddest  thing  upon 
which  my  eyes  have  ever  looked.  The  Emperor  is 
sitting  with  his  morning  gown  half  wrapped  around 
his  naked  breast,  and  on  his  lap  lies  outspread  the 
map  of  Europe.  The  face,  of  wondrous  beauty,  is 
of  unutterable  grief.  Wasted  opportunities,  dis 
appointed  ambition,  remorse,  have  set  upon  it 


ADDRESS  ON   GENERAL   GRANT.  175 

their  ineffaceable  seal.  His  wife  is  far  away  ;  his 
only  son  a  prisoner  at  the  Austrian  Court.  Upon 
the  throne  of  France,  trampled  as  she  is  under  the 
feet  of  the  armies  of  Europe,  sits  again  a  Bourbon 
king,  held  there  by  foreign  bayonets.  The  Emperor 
seems  to  recall  the  brave  who  have  died  by  thou 
sands,  not  that  mankind  might  be  nobler  and  better, 
but  to  minister  to  his  thirst  for  dominion,  his  in 
satiate  passion  for  power.  He  seems  to  remember 
that  by  his  own  acts  he  has  brought  ruin  upon  the 
people  who  had  loved  him  devotedly,  and  upon 
himself.  In  those  last  days,  says  his  biographer, 
M.  Thiers,  he  talked  much  of  his  old  companions  : 
"  Shall  I  see  them  again,  Desaix  and  Lannes,  Murat 
and  Ney  ?  "  Ah,  what  comfort  could  there  be  in 
that  ?  —  Lannes,  who  on  the  field  of  Essling,  dying, 
had  said  to  him,  "  Sire,  you  will  ruin  everything  by 
these  constant  wars ; "  or  Murat  and  Ney,  who  for 
him  had  died  deaths  not  altogether  honorable  to 
themselves,  even  if  disgraceful  to  those  who  in 
flicted  them.  Or  what  comfort  to  him  to  see 
again  that  splendid  youth  of  France  who  had 
followed  him  from  the  sands  of  Egypt  to  the 
snows  of  Russia,  the  only  reward  of  whose  valor 
had  been  the  destruction  of  their  own  liberty 
and  country  ? 

As  we  turn  in  sorrow  from  this  scene  which  the 
cunning  hand  of  the  artist  has  made  so  lifelike,  we 
behold  that  which  has  been  enacted  almost  before 
our  own  bodily  eyes.  It  is  sixty-four  years  later ; 
and  another  sits  in  his  chair  to  die.  Upon  him  is 


176      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

the  same  mortal  disease,  although  in  a  far  more 
agonizing  form.  His  face  had  never  the  Olympian 
beauty  of  the  great  Emperor  ;  it  is  marked  now 
with  the  heavy  lines  that  princely  care  and  rugged 
war  have  impressed  deep  upon  it,  but  it  is  grave 
and  majestic  still.  The  broad  brow  and  heavy  jaw 
tell  alike  of  the  calm  thought  and  resolute  will 
which  show  him  fit  to  be  among  the  kings  of  men. 
He  has  led  great  armies  on  fields  as  fiercely  con 
tested  as  Wagram  or  Austerlitz  or  Waterloo  itself, 
and  a  million  of  men  have  sprung  at  his  trumpet- 
call.  He  has  ruled  as  constitutional  magistrate 
over  a  realm  broader  and  fairer  than  France 
itself.  Life  has  to  him  been  labor  and  duty,  and 
until  tongue  and  hand  and  brain  refuse  their  office 
he  labors  still.  Around  him  gathers  everything 
that  makes  life  beautiful  and  parting  from  it  so 
hard;  but  there  is  no  remorse,  no  thought  of  duties 
left  undone  to  the  country  which  in  its  sore  need 
called  to  him,  no  obligations  unfulfilled  to  those 
who  had  followed  him  to  danger  and  to  death. 
The  only  woman  he  has  ever  loved  is  there  with 
tender  hand  to  moisten  the  parched  lips  or  wipe 
the  gathering  death-damp  from  his  brow.  Their 
children  and  grandchildren  are  at  their  feet. 
From  a  grateful  country  there  has  come  up  in 
a  thousand  forms  the  utterances  of  love  and  rever 
ence.  Those  lately  in  arms  against  the  cause  he 
served  have  generously  and  tenderly  united  in  each 
expression  of  feeling.  He  looks  abroad  over  the 
country  whose  union  he  fought  to  preserve  ;  every- 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL   GRANT.  177 

where  there  is  peace  and  prosperity ;  no  hostile 
armies  trample  the  soil ;  no  hostile  bayonets  flash 
back  the  sun  ;  the  war-drums  long  since  are  silent. 
The  fields  are  already  white  with  the  harvest;  the 
great  gateways  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  seas 
are  open,  and  through  them  commerce  pours  its 
generous  tide.  Master  and  slave  are  known  no 
longer  in  the  land  where  labor  is  honored  and 
manhood  is  revered.  To  him,  too,  in  those  dream 
ing  and  waiting  hours  came  the  memories  of  those 
who  have  fallen  in  battle  by  his  side,  or,  yielding 
since  to  the  remorseless  artillery  of  time,  have 
gone  before  him.  Even  if  he  does  not  utter  them, 
how  well  we  may  imagine  the  thoughts  that  pass 
through  his  mind  as  he  feels  that  he  draws  near 
to  them  :  "  Shall  I  see  them  again,  —  McPherson, 
Reynolds,  and  Sedgwick,  as  they  died  at  the  head 
of  their  army  corps;  Rawlins,  whom  I  loved  as  a 
brother ;  Hooker,  as  when  his  cannon  rang  down 
from  among  the  clouds  on  Lookout's  crest;  Thomas, 
as  he  triumphed  at  Nashville ;  Meade,  as  he  dashed 
back  the  fierce  charge  at  Gettysburg  or  urged  to 
the  last  dread  struggle  the  ever-faithful  Army  of 
the  Potomac  ?  If  it  be  so,  I  know  they  will  meet 
me  as  comrades  and  brothers.  Nor  those  alone, 
not  alone  the  great  chiefs  who  urged  forward  the 
fiery  onset  of  mighty  battalions.  Shall  I  see  again 
the  splendid  youth  of  1861  as  they  came  in  all  the 
ardor  of  their  generous  patriotism,  in  all  the  fire 
of  their  splendid  courage,  to  fill  the  ranks  of  our 
armies  ?  Shall  I  see  them  as  when  through  the 

12 


178      ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  GRANT. 

valleys  the  battle  poured  its  awful  tide,  or  as  when 
the  hills  were  made  red  by  their  glorious  sacrifice? 
I  am  very  near  them  now.  Almost  I  can  behold 
them,  although  the  light  on  their  faces  is  that 
which  never  was  on  sea  or  land.  Almost  I  can 
hear  their  bugles  call  to  me,  as  the  notes  softly 
rise  and  fall  across  the  dark  valley  through  which 
I  must  pass.  I  go  to  them ;  and  I  know  there 
is  not  one  that  will  not  meet  me  as  a  father  and 
a  friend." 

Farewell,  pure  and  noble  citizen,  wise  and  gen 
erous  statesman,  illustrious  soldier ;  farewell !  By 
these  solemn  rites  which  stretch  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  tenderly  and  tearfully  and  yet  gratefully 
still,  a  nation  surrenders  back  to  God  the  great 
gift  which  he  gave  in  her  hour  of  utmost  need. 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  FIFTEENTH  REGIMENT 
ASSOCIATION 

ON    THEIR    VISIT    TO    THE    BATTLE-FIELD    OF 
GETTYSBURG,  JUNE,   1886. 


COMRADES  AND  FRIENDS,  —  We  have  met,  at  a 
distance  from  our  homes,  on  a  great  field  ren 
dered  immortal  forever  by  the  victory  won  here 
for  the  Union  of  these  States,  and  for  the  great 
principles  of  liberty  and  equality  on  which  that 
Union  must  live  or  else  have  no  life,  to  dedicate 
this  monument  to  the  memory  of  those  of  the  Fif 
teenth  Massachusetts  Regiment  who  fell  in  that 
terrible  conflict.  If  such  be  the  immediate  object 
of  this  monument,  it  has  also  a  wider  scope,  as  in 
a  large  sense  it  commemorates  all  the  brave  men 
who  nobly  gave  or  bravely  offered  their  lives, 
and  testifies  our  own  devotion  to  and  faith  in 
the  great  cause  which  demanded  this  solemn  sacri 
fice.  Our  gathering  is  in  no  sense  ceremonial ; 
yet  simple  and  informal  as  our  words  may  be,  we 
would  willingly,  as  we  stand  above  these  glo 
rious  graves,  say  something  that  shall  express, 
however  inadequately,  the  gratitude  we  bear 
these  men  for  their  priceless  services,  and  the 
love  and  honor  in  which  we  cherish  their 
memory.  So  rapidly  do  the  years  move,  that  in 


180     THE   IOTH  REGIMENT   AND   GETTYSBURG. 

the  near  future  the  language  of  impartial  history 
will  speak  in  the  solemn  and  measured  tones  in 
which  it  has  recorded  its  judgment  upon  brave 
men  and  heroic  souls  long  gone  before  us  in 
the  ages  past.  But  although  twenty-three  years 
are  gone  since  these  hills  rang  with  the  echoes  of  the 
dread  artillery,  and  these  fields  almost  shook  with 
the  tramp  of  contending  armies,  to  us  these  men 
must  ever  be  what  they  were  that  day,  —  brothers 
and  comrades,  husbands,  lovers,  fathers,  and  sons. 
Everything  that  makes  life  sweet  and  beautiful 
gathers  and  entwines  itself  around  their  memory. 

The  Fifteenth  Regiment,  mustered  into  the  service 
in  July,  1861,  in  Worcester,  was  the  first  of  six 
regiments  which  were  organized  in  that  city  for 
the  suppression  of  the  Rebellion.  It  was  composed 
of  Worcester  County  men  almost  entirely,  and  was 
the  offering  of  ten  towns  in  that  county  whose 
names  in  familiar  conversation  the  companies  fre 
quently  bore  to  the  last  in  the  regiment,  as  well 
as  the  letters  which  were  their  proper  designation. 
I  name  them  in  the  alphabetical  order  of  their 
designation  :  A,  Leominster ;  B,  Fitchburg ;  C, 
Clinton  ;  D,  Worcester ;  E,  Oxford ;  F,  Brook- 
field  ;  G,  Graf  ton;  H,  Northbridge ;  I,  Webster; 
K,  Blackstone.  It  was  the  only  one  of  the  regi 
ments  organized  in  the  County  of  Worcester  that 
participated  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  although 
all  the  others  were  doing  on  other  fields  of  the 
war  valuable  and  faithful  service.  The  battle  of 
Gettysburg  indicates  the  high-water  mark  of  the 


THE   15-rii   REGIMENT   AND   GETTYSBURG.     181 

Rebellion.  Although  many  great  battles  were  to 
be  fought  thereafter,  man}7  trials  endured,  many 
disasters  encountered,  yet  its  culminating  point 
was  here ;  and  it  was  here  that  the  tide  was 
turned.  If  the  so-called  Confederacy  could  es 
tablish  itself  firmly  on  the  soil  of  one  of  the 
Northern  States,  it  would  indicate  to  Europe  that 
the  Civil  War  was  something  more  than  a  local 
rebellion,  and  might,  perhaps,  gain  for  the  Con 
federacy  an  admission  into  the  family  of  nations 
by  those  who  were  covertly  supporting  it.  Vicks- 
burg,  it  is  true,  was  not  yet  taken  ;  but  it  could 
not  be  wrenched  from  the  grasp  of  the  iron  hands 
which  encompassed  it.  Yet  the  blow  might  be 
parried  if  a  victory  could  be  won  for  the  Rebel 
lion  upon  Northern  soil.  Whatever  may  have 
been,  however,  the  motives  and  the  hopes  which 
induced  the  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  by  General 
Lee,  here  they  were  destined  to  come  to  naught, 
here  they  were  utterly  blasted. 

In  view,  it  may  fairly  be  presumed,  of  the 
consequences  of  this  great  victory,  of  the  fact 
that  it  was  won  upon  the  soil  of  one  of  the  free 
States,  and  that  this  field  is  an  appropriate 
memorial  of  the  whole  war,  the  State  of  Massa 
chusetts  on  March  25,  1884,  appropriated  to  each 
of  its  regiments  and  batteries  here  engaged  a 
sufficient  sum  for  a  suitable  monument  to  be 
erected  on  the  battle-field.  The  work  of  the 
artist  is  before  us,  and  it  will  be  conceded  that, 
if  simple,  it  is  yet  graceful  and  appropriate.  No 


182     THE   15TH   REGIMENT  AND   GETTYSBURG. 

State  has  proved  more  tenderly  regardful  of  the 
children  whom  she  sent  forth  to  battle  than  our 
own  Massachusetts.  No  troops  ever  went  forth 
more  carefully  prepared,  clothed,  and  equipped 
than  those  which  were  sent  out  under  our  war 
governor,  John  A.  Andrew,  whose  name  is  never 
to  be  mentioned  but  with  love  and  respect.  Never 
were  men  watched  over  with  more  affectionate 
regard  through  those  stormy  days  of  trial.  Since 
the  war  closed,  no  State  has  been  more  generous 
in  supplementing  the  national  bounty  in  behalf  of 
our  sick  and  wounded,  our  decayed  and  broken 
men.  It  is  to  her  that  we  owe  the  means  of 
erecting  this  tribute  to  our  fallen  comrades,  and 
for  this  we  render  to  her  to-day  our  grateful  arid 
cordial  thanks. 

I  shall  not  undertake  here,  my  comrades,  at  any 
length  to  relate  the  deeds  of  the  Fifteenth  Massa 
chusetts,  or  fully  to  describe  this  great  battle  in 
which  it  bore  so  creditable  a  part.  The  merest 
sketch  must  suffice.  Before  this  conflict  the  regi 
ment  had  won  for  itself  an  honorable,  I  might 
safely  say  an  illustrious  name,  among  the  foremost 
and  best-disciplined  regiments  of  the  army.  There 
is  a  point  with  the  bravest  where  organization  loses 
its  power,  where  losses  are  so  severe  and  men  are 
so  utterly  broken  that  discipline  fails  and  can  do 
nothing  more  ;  and  yet  twice  before  in  its  history  it 
had  lost  more  than  half  its  men,  and,  still  unflinch 
ing,  it  had  drawn  off  the  remnant  resolutely  and 
in  good  order.  At  its  first  battle,  that  of  Ball's 


THE   IOTH   REGIMENT   AND  GETTYSBURG.     183 

Bluff,  unfortunate  though  the  day  was,  the  regi 
ment  established  a  reputation  for  valor  and  for 
determined  staying  power  which  it  never  forfeited 
or  lost  ;  but  that  reputation  was  won  at  the 
expense  of  many  noble  lives.  It  was  in  this 
engagement  that  General  Ward,  then  lieutenant- 
colonel,  was  severely  wounded.  He  was  destined 
afterwards  bravely  to  lose  his  life  on  this  field 
of  Gettysburg,  and  the  dedication  of  his  monu 
ment  will  be  a  part  of  our  solemn  office  to-day. 

The  regiment  made  a  campaign  in  February, 
1862,  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  then  joined 
the  forces  of  McClellan  on  the  Peninsula.  At 
Yorktown,  having  been  assigned  to  the  com 
mand  of  a  brigade  by  promotion,  my  own  im 
mediate  connection  with  the  regiment  ceased,  and 
Colonel  Ward  being  utterly  disabled,  the  active 
command  passed  for  the  time  to  the  always 
brave  and  reliable  Colonel  Kimball.  The  regiment 
participated  in  all  the  conflicts  of  the  Peninsula. 
I  have  re-read  the  reports  of  Generals  Gorman, 
Sully,  Howard,  and  Sedgwick.  In  different  forms 
of  expression  each  of  those  generals  has  said  that 
better  and  braver  troops  no  man  ever  led.  It  was 
in  the  same  division  with  the  Nineteenth  and  Twen 
tieth  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  who,  it  is  just  to 
say,  received  similar  commendations.  My  own 
words  are  of  little  importance  compared  with 
those  ;  but  in  a  report  made  by  myself  to  Gov 
ernor  Andrew,  December  20,  1862,  principally  as 
to  the  Seventh,  Tenth,  and  Thirty-seventh  Massa- 


184     THE   IOTH   REGIMENT   AND   GETTYSBURG. 

chusetts  regiments,  then  in  my  brigade,  I  spoke 
of  the  Fifteenth  in  language  in  which  I  believe  as 
firmly  now  as  when  I  wrote  it :  "  Called  upon," 
I  said,  "both  at  Ball's  Bluff  and  at  Antietam, 
when  it  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
(now  Colonel)  Kimball,  to  endure  the  terrific  loss  of 
more  than  one  half  of  its  men  engaged,  it  exhibited 
a  courage  and  fidelity  more  than  worthy  of  vet 
eran  troops,  for  it  was  worthy  of  the  holy  cause 
which,  had  drawn  its  men  from  their  peaceful 
homes." 

At  Antietam,  when  I  was  moving  up  with 
my  brigade  on  the  morning  after  the  princi 
pal  battle,  anticipating  its  renewal,  my  orderly. 
George  W.  Mirick,  said  to  me,  "  General  Sedg- 
wick  is  wounded,  lying  in  a  hut  near  the  road." 
I  jumped  off  my  horse  and  ran  in  for  a  moment. 
After  speaking  of  his  wound,  which,  although 
it  disabled  him  for  the  time,  was  not  dangerous, 
General  Sedgwick  said  to  me,  "  Your  old  Fifteenth 
was  magnificent  yesterday ;  no  regiment  of  the 
regular  army  ever  fought  better."  I  thought 
he  might  well  say  this,  when  at  a  later  period  I 
learned  that  it  had  carried  606  officers  and  men 
into  the  battle,  and  that  its  list  of  casualties 
was  322  men,  all  but  twenty-four  of  whom 
were  accounted  for  by  name  as  killed  on  the 
field  or  wounded.  It  certainly  was  a  sufficient 
compliment  when  he  says  in  his  report  that  its 
"  conduct  was  not  different  from  what  it  was 
on  all  other  occasions." 


THE   15TH   REGIMENT   AND   GETTYSBURG.     185 

The  disastrous  battle  of  Fredericksburg  fol 
lowed  Antietam,  and  was  followed  by  the  not 
less  unfortunate  battle  of  Chancellors ville.  In 
both  these  engagements  the  Fifteenth  had  a  part 
worthy  always  of  its  reputation.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  their  result  was  most  sorely  to 
depress  the  North ;  and  the  hope  to  take  ad- 
Arantage  of  that  depression  was  one  of  the  motives 
for  the  campaign  which  General  Lee  now  inaugu 
rated.  When  the  design  of  Lee  was  unmasked, 
General  Hooker  acted  with  great  vigor,  crossing 
the  Potomac  only  one  day  later,  and  moving  so 
rapidly  as  to  threaten  Lee's  communications,  and 
to  interpose  between  him  and  his  cavalry.  As 
celerity  of  movement  was  then  of  the  highest  im 
portance,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Fifteenth, 
together  with  the  Nineteenth  Massachusetts,  re 
ceived  the  tribute  of  an  especial  complimentary 
order  for  their  vigorous  and  compact  marching  on 
the  day  when  General  Hooker  crossed  the  river 
in  pursuit.  At  Frederick,  in  Maryland,  General 
Hooker  was  relieved  from  command,  and  General 
Meade  substituted  ;  but  the  Potomac  Army  ad 
vanced  so  vigorously  that  General  Lee  fell  back 
from  the  Snsquehanna,  anxious  lest  his  line  of  re 
treat  should  be  barred.  The  first  encounter  took 
place  to  the  north  and  west  of  Gettysburg,  the 
battle  being  opened  by  Buford's  cavalry,  the 
First  and  Eleventh  corps  on  our  side  being  the 
only  corps  engaged ;  arid,  outnumbered  by  the 
enemy,  they  were  forced  back  to  the  crest  on 


186     THE   IOTH   REGIMENT   AND   GETTYSBURG. 

which  we  are  now  standing.  The  Fifteenth  Regi 
ment,  whose  fortunes  we  desire  more  immediately 
to  follow,  was  in  the  Second  Corps,  Hancock's ;  and 
proudly  are  its  men  entitled  to  wear  the  clover-leaf, 
which  was  the  badge  of  that  corps,  for  the  good 
work  of  those  days.  Its  division  commander  was 
General  John  Gibbon,  and  Colonel  Ward  was  act 
ing  temporarily  as  brigade  commander  of  the  First 
Brigade,  in  which  it  served.  General  Hancock, 
who,  without  troops,  had  been  sent  forward 
to  Gettysburg,  had  reported  that  the  ground 
was  favorable  for  a  battle  ;  that  it  could  be 
held  until  nightfall  ;  and  orders  had  been  at 
once  issued  for  the  concentration  of  the  army  at 
Gettysburg. 

The  Fifteenth,  on  the  night  of  July  1,  bivouacked 
about  three  miles  from  the  field,  and  moved  for 
ward  on  the  morning  of  July  2,  with  the  rest 
of  the  Second  Corps,  at  daybreak,  reaching  the 
field  about  seven  o'clock.  The  other  brigades  of 
the  division  were  in  line.  The  First  Brigade  (in 
which  the  Fifteenth  served)  was  formed  in  the  un 
dulation,  or  hollow,  behind  the  line  indicated  by 
the  regimental  monument,  so  that  it  might  be 
readily  moved  to  the  aid  of  the  other  parts  of 
the  line  in  column  of  regiments.  Colonel  \Vard, 
who  had  been  relieved  by  the  arrival  of  the 
brigade  commander,  now  took  command  of  the 
regiment.  He  spoke  briefly  but  spiritedly  to  the 
men,  urged  them  to  do  their  duty,  and  told  them 
of  the  momentous  issues  involved  in  their  hold- 


THE   15TH   REGIMENT   AND  GETTYSBURG.     187 

ing  the  ground  firmly.  It  was  not  until  about  four 
o'clock  that  serious  conflict  took  place,  by  a  terrific 
attack  upon  the  left  of  the  Third  Corps,  which 
had  been  thrown  forward  to  a  more  advanced 
position  on  the  Emmitsburg  road,  which  ran 
diagonally  to  the  front  of  our  general  line. 
The  line  of  the  Third  Corps,  commanded  by 
General  Sickles,  extended  along  that  road  by  the 
peach  orchard,  then  turned  back  to  the  foot  of 
Round  Top.  Its  right  rested  on  the  Emmitsburg 
road  in  echelon,  some  550  yards  in  advance  of 
the  line  of  the  Second  Corps.  To  protect  his 
own  left  and  the  right  of  General  Sickles'  corps, 
and  to  fill  the  gap,  General  Hancock  ordered  two 
regiments  to  be  advanced  to  the  Emmitsburg 
road  north  of  the  Codori  House.  The  Fifteenth 
Massachusetts,  Colonel  Ward,  and  the  Eighty-sec 
ond  New  York,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Huston,  were 
ordered  to  move  forward,  which  they  immediately 
did,  forming  along  the  road,  the  Fifteenth  being  on 
the  right  and  the  Eighty-second  on  the  left.  Their 
line  did  not  immediately  connect  with  the  extreme 
right  of  the  Third  Corps,  but  was  some  two  hundred 
yards  from  it,  nor  with  the  extreme  left  of  the 
Second  Corps,  but  was  partially  in  front  of  it. 

The  attack,  which  had  commenced  at  the  extreme 
left  of  the  Third  Corps  and  at  the  peach  orchard, 
gradually  extended  to  its  right  until  the  whole  line 
of  the  corps  was  engaged  ;  and  it  was  nearly  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening  before  the  storm  fell  upon 
the  Fifteenth  and  Eighty-second.  The  extreme 


188     THE   15TH   REGIMENT   AND   GETTYSBURG. 

right  of  the  Third  Corps  was  now  attacked  by  Barks- 
dale's,  Wilson's,  and  Perry's  Confederate  brigades, 
and  forced  gradually  back,  thus  uncovering  the  left 
of  the  line  of  the  two  regiments  whose  actions  we 
are  following.  Wright's  Georgia  brigade  now  ad 
vanced,  and  would  have  struck  or  swept  around  the 
right  flank  of  the  Third  Corps  but  that  it  was  en 
countered  by  these  regiments.  The  engagement  was 
desperate ;  from  their  advanced  position  the  two 
regiments  were  to  some  extent  under  the  fire  of  our 
own  men  as  much  as  that  of  the  enemy.  The  Eighty- 
second,  whose  left  was  now  wholly  uncovered,  was 
first  forced  back,  and  the  whole  weight  of  the  assault 
fell  upon  the  Fifteenth.  It  was  necessary  to  retire  to 
the  line  of  the  Second  Corps,  and  thither  it  fought 
its  way  back.  But  the  two  regiments  had  done 
their  work  well  in  protecting  the  flank  of  their 
own  corps,  for  as  the  enemy  followed  closely,  they 
were  handsomely  repulsed  by  the  Second  Brigade  of 
their  division,  and  by  a  portion  of  the  Thirteenth' 
Vermont,  which  had  just  reached  that  part  of  the 
field.  In  this  fearful  conflict  we  had  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  many  brave  officers  and  men,  among  them 
Colonel  Ward,  who,  gallantly  fighting  as  his  regi 
ment  steadily  retreated,  received  the  mortal  wound 
of  which,  a  few  hours  later,  he  died.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Huston  was  mortally  wounded.  But  if 
terrible  blows  had  been  received,  they  had  been  most 
terribly  returned.  The  Georgia  brigade  of  Wright 
had  left  on  the  field  either  killed  or  seriously  and  per 
haps  mortally  wounded  three  of  their  regimental 


THE   IOTH   REGIMENT  AND   GETTYSBURG.     189 

commanders.  —  Colonel  Warden  of  the  Twenty- 
second  Georgia,  Major  Ross,  commanding  the  Sec 
ond  Georgia,  and  Colonel  Gibson,  commanding  the 
Forty-eighth  Georgia  ;  and  its  loss  in  subordinate 
officers  and  men  was  proportionately  heavy. 

I  have  spoken  somewhat  fully  of  the  conduct  of 
the  Fifteenth  on  the  second  day  of  July,  for,  from 
the  isolated  position  which  it  and  its  companion 
regiment  occupied,  they  rendered  a  peculiar,  dan 
gerous,  and  most  gallant  service. 

Notwithstanding  the  forcing  back  of  the  Third 
Corps,  the  2d  of  July  had,  taken  as  a  whole,  closed 
successfully  for  our  army.  Round  Top,  which  pro 
tected  our  left,  was  now  so  firmly  held  that  it  could 
not  be  torn  from  us ;  and  on  our  extreme  right  at 
Gulp's  Hill,  although  some  advantage  had  been 
gained  by  the  Confederates,  it  was  clear  that  all 
they  had  obtained  could  be  taken  from  them,  as  it 
was,  indeed,  on  the  next  morning. 

It  was  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
3d  of  July  when  the  preparations  for  the  terrific 
assault,  intended  to  break  the  centre  of  our  line 
and  drive  in  confusion  its  twro  separate  fragments 
on  two  distinct  lines  of  retreat,  began,  by  one  of 
the  most  terrific  cannonades  ever  known.  The  Con 
federate  Army  was  especially  strong  that  day  in 
artillery,  and  General  Lee  was  able  to  concentrate 
for  this  attack  one  hundred  and  fifty  guns.  For 
some  two  hours  the  fire  of  these  guns  was  directed 
upon  the  centre  which  it  was  intended  to  break. 
Sheltering  themselves  as  far  as  possible  by  such 


190     THE   15TH  REGIMENT  AND   GETTYSBURG. 

rude  breastworks  as  they  had  been  able  to  make, 
our  troops,  whom  the  artillery  fire  was  intended  to 
demoralize,  awaited  the  struggle  which  was  certain 
to  come  when  the  enemy's  infantry  moved.  The 
position  in  which  the  Fifteenth  Massachusetts, 
now  under  command  of  Colonel  Joslin,  lay  during 
this  tempest  of  shot  and  shell  was  some  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  rods  to  the  left  of  the  monument. 
Hancock  knew  that  somewhere  on  the  Second 
Corps  the  weight  of  the  assault  was  sure  to  fall, 
and  as  he  rode  along  the  line,  roused  his  men 
by  inspiring  words  and  his  own  gallant  bearing. 

It  is  about  three  o'clock,  and  the  Confederate  fire 
slackens,  so  that  their  infantry  may  move  out  of 
the  woods  that  have  partially  sheltered  them.  They 
are  coming  now,  in  numbers  nearly  or  quite 
eighteen  thousand  men.  Longstreet  has  organized 
the  assault ;  but  Pickett's  division  of  Virginians  is 
to  lead.  It  contains  about  five  thousand  or  six 
thousand  men  who  have  not  yet  fought  in  the  bat 
tle,  and  is  supported  on  the  right  and  left  by  divi 
sions  from  other  corps  of  their  army.  It  is  a  relief 
to  see  them  come,  for,  fierce  as  the  encounter  must 
be,  the  recumbent  position  of  our  men  under  the 
blazing  July  sun  is  intolerable,  and  they  spring  to 
their  feet  with  alacrity.  The  enemy  has  formed 
for  the  attack  in  two  lines,  which,  as  they  move, 
contract  their  front,  and  their  lines  are  doubled  or 
trebled  by  reason  of  the  difficulties  and  obstructions 
on  the  march,  thus  having  the  appearance  and  to 
some  extent  the  formation  of  columns,  as  they  are 


THE   15TH  REGIMENT  AND   GETTYSBURG.     191 

generally  termed.  They  are  severely  handled  by 
our  artillery,  but  they  come  steadily  on. 

The  assault  was  directed  at  first  precisely  to 
wards  the  point  in  our  line  where  the  brigade  was 
posted  in  which  the  Fifteenth  served ;  but  more 
lately,  as  it  advanced,  it  was  deflected  to  our  right, 
perhaps  because  the  clump  of  trees  afforded  them  a 
prominent  landmark,  or  because  the  fire  of  Stan- 
nard's  Vermont  brigade,  which  was  now  thrown 
forward  on  the  right  flank  of  the  enemy,  caused 
the  change  of  direction. 

The  Fifteenth  Massachusetts,  with  other  regi 
ments  of  the  brigade  following  it,  promptly  moves 
towards  its  own  right  to  encounter  the  attack, 
when  it  is  about  to  strike  on  the  line  of  the 
Second  Corps.  In  this  movement  many  of  our 
men  fall,  notably  Captain  Jorgensen,  and,  a  little 
later,  Captain  Murkland.  As  the  Fifteenth  Regi 
ment  reaches  the  clump  of  trees,  the  enemy,  break 
ing  through  the  line  of  General  Webb,  which  is 
marked  by  a  low  stone  wall,  for  a  moment  fairly 
presses  the  Union  line  back.  It  is  the  last  effort 
of  desperation  ;  the  assaulting  lines  or  columns 
can  do  no  more.  There  is  a  moment's  pause, 
but  the  point  penetrated  by  the  enemy  is  in 
stantly  covered  ;  and  as  if  by  common  consent 
the  order  "  Forward  "  is  given,  and  our  men  reso 
lutely  advance  upon  the  foe.  "  The  first  time  I 
heard  the  order,  '  Advance  the  colors  ! '  '  says  Cap 
tain  Hastings  of  the  Fifteenth,  "  was  from  Corporal 
Cunningham,  although  it  was  only  the  repetition 


192     THE   15TH  REGIMENT   AND    GETTYSBURG. 

of  the  order  given  by  Colonel  Joslin."  The  order 
is  uttered  and  repeated  from  man  to  man,  as 
well  as  from  general  and  colonel  along  the  line. 
No  one  can  say  who  gave  it  first.  There  is  some 
confusion,  for  in  the  rapid  movements  and  the 
heavy  fire,  organization  is  to  some  extent  lost, 
but  all  know  what  is  to  be  done,  and  are  resolute 
to  do  it.  Firmly  on  now  comes  the  whole  Union 
front.  Officers,  if  they  cannot  alwaj^s  direct  by 
their  commands,  animate  by  their  example.  For  a 
few  moments  the  contest  is  most  furious,  but  such 
a  struggle  is  too  desperate  to  endure  long.  The 
Confederate  lines  waver,  yield,  break  at  last,  while 
many  of  their  men  throw  down  their  muskets  and 
throw  up  their  hands  in  surrender.  A  few  wild, 
disordered  bands  strive  to  fall  back  to  the  Confed 
erate  lines,  from  which  they  had  issued  so  bravely 
an  hour  or  two  before  ;  and  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  as  it  gathers  up  the  straggling  prisoners  by 
thousands,  knows  that  by  its  steady  valor  a  great 
victory  has  been  won  for  the  Union. 

In  this  conflict  our  regiment  had  its  full  share 
alike  of  the  danger  and  the  glory,  for  both  on  the 
2d  and  the  3d  of  July  it  was  at  the  points  where 
the  fiercest  fighting  was  done  and  where  the  victory 
was  finally  secured.  Depleted  by  its  former  en 
gagements,  the  Fifteenth  brought  into  the  battle 
only  eighteen  officers  and  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  men.  It  lost  three  officers  and  nineteen  en 
listed  men  killed  on  the  field,  and  eight  officers 
and  eighty-five  men  wounded  (of  whom  many  after- 


THE   15TH   REGIMENT   AND   GETTYSBURG.     193 

wards  died),  —  in  round  numbers,  one  half  of  those 
who  were  engaged.  Tested  in  a  merely  material 
point  of  view,  Gettysburg  was  one  of  the  great 
battles  of  the  world.  While  the  loss  in  our  own 
regiment  was  fifty  per  cent,  throughout  our  whole 
army  it  was  probably  from  twenty-five  to  thirty 
per  cent.  In  the  Confederate  Army  it  was  without 
doubt  larger,  as  it  had  been  the  attacking  force. 
But,  dreadful  as  the  story  is  when  we  remember 
that  the  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners  of  the 
Federal  Army  numbered  twenty-three  thousand 
men,  who  shall  say,  as  we  reflect  how  much  was 
done  here  for  freedom  and  law  and  good  govern 
ment  throughout  not  only  our  country,  but  the 
world,  that  the  victory  won  here  was  not  worth 
even  the  noble  lives  it  cost  ? 

"The  spot  is  holy  where  they  fought, 
And  holy  where  they  fell; 
For  by  their  blood  the  land  was  bought, 
That  land  they  loved  so  well." 

I  will  not  undertake  to  follow  further  the  history 
of  the  Fifteenth  Eegiment  except  by  a  single 
sentence.  It  fought  in  all  the  battles  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  that  followed  in  1863.  It  was 
in  the  great  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  Spott- 
sylvania,  and  Cold  Harbor,  with  which  the«year 
1864  opened.  Sadly  depleted  in  its  ranks,  it  was 
never  false  to  its  reputation  ;  and,  its  full  term  of 
service  completed,  it  was  mustered  out  in  July  of 
that  year  at  Worcester  with  only  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  As  its  colonel  I  had  carried  from 

13 


194     THE   15TH  REGIMENT  AND   GETTYSBURG. 

Worcester,  in  1861,  1,065  men,  and  it  had  received 
about  seven  hundred  recruits.  Its  men  who  were 
killed  on  the  field,  or  died  of  wounds  and  disease 
during  its  term  of  service,  were  364.  This  does 
riot  include,  of  course,  those  who  were  discharged 
for  wounds  or  disability,  many  of  whom  returned 
home  only  to  die.  Tried  by  this  terrible  and 
bloody  test,  its  place  is  among  the  most  gallant 
regiments  of  the  Union  Army  during  the  entire 
war.  From  an  article  published  in  the  "  National 
Tribune"  of  this  year,  by  Mr.  B.  F.  Gilman,  for 
merly  of  the  Thirty-second  Massachusetts,  it  ap 
pears  that  in  percentage  of  its  losses  the  Fifteenth 
stands  fourth  among  those  who  served  in  the 
armies  of  the  Union.  I  have  not  the  means  of 
verifying  the  accuracy  of  Mr.  Oilman's  statement. 
I  am  able  to  state,  however,  from  my  own  exami 
nation  in  the  records  of  the  adjutant-general's 
office  of  Massachusetts,  that  its  proportional  loss  of 
men  who  died  during  its  term  of  service,  having 
regard  to  the  number  of  men  borne  upon  its  rolls, 
is  larger  than  that  of  any  of  the  regiments  that 
went  from  our  commonwealth.  Its  actual  losses 
were  greater  than  those  of  any  other  regiment 
except  the  Twentieth  Massachusetts.  But  that 
gallant  regiment  was  in  the  service  eight  months 
longer,  and  had  upon  its  rolls  more  than  half  as 
many  again  men,  in  all  3,030  men.  Massachusetts 
sent  to  the  war  sixty  gallant  regiments,  all  of 
whom  did  honor  to  the  State,  whose  children  they 
were,  and  to  the  cause  which  they  served.  To  have 


THE   15TH  REGIMENT   AND   GETTYSBURG.     195 

gained  such  a  place  among  them  as  that  won  by 
the  Fifteenth  is  surely  a  sufficient  eulogy. 

How  shall  I  speak,  my  friends  and  comrades,  of 
these  men,  when  I  remember  that  it  was  my  duty 
to  command  them  during  nearly  a  year,  and  to  lead 
them  in  the  first  of  the  man}7  bloody  battles  in 
which  they  fought  ?  Certainly  no  better  or  braver 
men  ever  went  forth  in  obedience  to  the  solemn 
call  of  country.  They  were  the  young  farmers, 
mechanics,  and  business  men  of  our  County  of 
Worcester, —  men  who  thought  and  felt  as  freemen. 
Before  them  lay  the  path  of  duty ;  they  could  take 
no  other  road ;  they  were  animated  by  no  hope  of 
aggrandizement,  for  most  of  them  left  behind  far 
more  lucrative  positions  ;  they  were  stimulated  by 
no  hope  of  bounties ;  they  were  excited  by  no  fires 
of  personal  ambition ;  they  were  inflamed  by  no 
wild  enthusiasm.  Calm  and  deliberate  reflection 
had  told  them  that  it  was  by  their  hands,  and  by 
the  hands  of  men  such  as  they,  that  the  Union  must 
be  defended.  They  were  not  kinless  men, — waifs 
of  society,  such  as  float  on  the  surface  of  the  tur 
bulent  waters  of  great  towns  and  cities  ;  around 
them  were  all  the  most  sacred  ties  which  bind  us 
to  life.  Yet  they  laid  these  aside  to  answer  the 
call  of  country.  They  were  such  men  as  make 
the  heart  and  bone  and  sinew  of  our  nation  ;  they 
embraced  all  that  was  noblest  and  purest  in  its 
young  life.  When  shall  their  glory  fade  ?  Not 
surely  while  the  great  flag  that  they  followed 
waves  above  a  free  and  united  country.  All  who 


196     THE   IUTH   REGIMENT  AND   GETTYSBURG. 

led  this  regiment  in  battle  that  now  are  living  are 
here  to-day.  I  am  sure  I  speak  for  all  when  I  say 
that  I  wish  we  could  have  led  and  served  it  better. 

The  monument  we  have  reared  to  them  is  not  a 
monument  to  the  glories  of  war.  If  that  were  all, 
it  were  better  that  the  State  of  Massachusetts  had 
withheld  its  gift  and  that  this  granite  block  was 
sleeping  in  its  native  quarry.  No  one  knows  better 
than  we  who  have  seen  the  trampled  fields,  the 
desolated  homes,  the  blazing  towns,  the  agonies  of 
the  dying  on  such  a  field  as  this  (less  happy  than 
the  dead,  who  are  past  all  pain),  what  the  horrors 
of  war  are.  A  war  can  only  be  justified  or  en 
nobled  by  a  great  and  solemn  cause  ;  and  that  cause 
the  American  people  had.  It  is  the  noble  spirit 
and  the  high  resolve  that  their  government  should 
not  be  destroyed,  that  freedom  should  prevail 
wherever  their  flag  floated,  which  we  seek  to 
commemorate.  Patriotic  self-devotion,  unflinching 
loyalty  to  duty,  —  these  we  would  honor,  these  we 
would  hold  up  to  the  reverence  and  imitation  of 
those  who  are  to  come  hereafter,  whether  he  who 
displayed  those  great  qualities  fell  with  the  stars  of 
the  general,  or  the  eagles  of  the  colonel,  on  his 
shoulder,  or  in  the  simple  jacket  of  the  private 
soldier. 

This  memorial  is  reared  in  no  spirit  of  hostility 
towards,  or  exultation  over,  the  defeated  in  our  late 
civil  war.  Let  the  passions  it  engendered  pass 
away  with  the  dreadful  source  from  which  it 
sprung.  Even  though  the  baffled  and  beaten 


THE   15TH   REGIMENT  AND   GETTYSBURG.     197 

traitor,  around  whom  gather  all  the  infamies  and 
horrors  by  which  a  wretched  cause  was  rendered 
even  more  wicked,  may  still  continue  with  feeble 
utterances  to  cry  out  that  the  cause  is  not  dead,  — 
secession  and  slavery  are  in  their  dishonorable 
graves  together.  The  hand  of  a  merciful  Provi 
dence  will  extend  to  them  no  resurrection ;  but 
the  recollections  of  the  grand  results  which  our 
brethren  achieved,  and  the  heroism  with  which 
they  achieved  them,  cannot  be  allowed  to  pass 
away.  Over  the  unfortunate  and  erring  with 
whom  they  contended  let  the  long  grass  wave 
undisturbed.  Yet  as  we  stand  by  these  glorious 
graves,  we  cannot  confound  the  heroes  and  mar 
tyrs  of  a  noble  cause  with  those  whom  the  twin 
furies  of  treason  and  slavery  led  forth  to  battle, 
unless  by  a  confusion  of  ideas  worthy  of  chaos 
itself.  It  is  the  cause  which  sets  our  brethren 
apart  among  the  myriads  who  people  the  silent 
cities  of  the  dead.  We  should  not  be  true  to  their 
just  fame  if  in  any  sickly  sentimental  gush  of 
reconciliation  we  should  hesitate  to  assert  that  the 
principles  for  which  they  died  were  right,  and 
that  those  against  which  they  fought  were  deeply 
wrong.  That  assertion,  in  no  sense  unkind  or 
ungenerous  to  those  with  whom  they  were  once  in 
deadly  strife,  this  monument  makes  to-day.  It 
tells  of  bravery  and  valor ;  but  it  tells  of  more 
than  these,  for  it  tells  of  duty  and  patriotism,  and 
it  summons  all  who  may  look  upon  it  hereafter 
to  answer  to  their  call. 


198     THE   15TH   REGIMENT  AND   GETTYSBURG. 

We  dedicate  this  monument,  then,  the  gift  of 
Massachusetts,  to  the  memory  of  the  dead  of  our 
Fifteenth  Regiment,  who  fell  on  this  immortal  field, 
and  in  the  various  conflicts  in  which  the  regiment 
fought,  to  the  memory  of  those  who  served  in  it 
and  nobly  offered  their  lives  for  their  country,  as 
they  have  passed,  or  shall  hereafter  pass  away, 
and  to  the  memory  of  their  brave  comrades  of  the 
whole  Federal  Army.  We  dedicate  it  to  the  great 
cause  of  the  Union  and  the  freedom  of  all  who 
dwell  beneath  the  flag,  which  is  the  emblem  of  its 
sovereignty,  in  the  solemn  trust  that  "  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people," 
shall  not  perish  from  among  men. 


ADDRESS 

AS  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  ALUMNI  AT  THE  DINNER  IN 
MEMORIAL  HALL  ON  THE  TWO  HUNDRED  AND 
FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  FOUNDING  OF 
HARVARD  COLLEGE,  NOVEMBER  8,  1886. 


BRETHREN,  —  Our  solemn  festival  draws  to  its 
close.  For  a  few  moments  we  linger  still  to  inter 
change  our  mutual  sentiments  and  feelings,  and 
then  to  part  until  the  three  hundredth  anniversary 
summons  the  sons  of  Harvard  to  unite  upon  a 
similar  occasion.  A  few  may  expect  to  see  that 
distant  day,  but  most  of  us  know  that  for  us  it  is 
impossible.  But  whether  we  are  to  join  in  it  or 
not,  those  who  shall  then  commemorate  are  to  be 
our  brethren,  united  by  that  bond  of  fraternity 
whose  mystic  chords  draw  together  all  who  have 
drunk  at  this  fountain.  Their  voices  as  our  own, 
when  they  meet  and  when  they  part,  will  utter 
their  salutation  to  our  beloved  University,  "  Salve, 
magna  Parens !  " 

It  is  well  in  this  time  of  prosperity,  when  Mas 
sachusetts  is  a  wealthy  and  powerful  State,  and 
yet  but  a  portion  of  a  mighty  nation  whose  gate 
ways  are  on  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  seas,  to 
look  back  to  the  day  when  this  college  was  founded, 
arid  to  the  men  who  made  that  day  great.  It  was 


200     ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI. 

six  years  only  since  they  had  reached  these  shores. 
They  had  contended  with  the  inhospitable  cli 
mate  ;  the  stern  soil  they  had  encountered  but 
not  subdued.  Their  settlements  were  but  a  fringe 
along  a  stormy  sea  which  separated  them  from  the 
land  they  had  loved  so  well,  and  had  parted  from 
in  obedience  to  a  higher  call  than  that  of  country, 
to  build  here  their  New  Jerusalem.  Not  sustained 
by  any  royal  favor  or  power ;  not  disturbed  as  yet 
except  it  might  be  by  a  royal  frown ;  exercising 
boldly  the  powers  of  sovereignty  even  if  in  nom 
inal  obedience  to  their  parent  State ;  fixing  defi 
nitely  the  status  of  citizens ;  imposing  taxes  and 
duties;  determining  what  should  be  public  charges, 
—  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  a  full  and 
perfect  commonwealth,  they  established  this  col 
lege,  endowing  it  with  the  magnificent  gift  equal 
to  a  year's  revenue. 

One  great  principle  they  contributed  to  the  sci 
ence  of  government,  —  and  the  greatest  of  States 
and  statesmen  might  well  be  proud  of  the  contri 
bution.  That  the  education  of  the  people  is  a 
public  duty ;  that  there  is  a  right  in  every  child 
and  youth  in  the  land  to  its  rudiments,  and  to  the 
opportunity  for  a  larger  and  more  liberal  culture ; 
that  the  provision  for  this  is  a  legitimate  public 
expenditure,  —  are  principles  of  the  gravest  im 
portance  ;  and  for  these  the  world  is  indebted  to 
them.  The  monuments  to  their  own  just  fame 
which  they  reared  by  the  establishment  of  this 
college,  and  by  their  provision  for  public  schools, 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI.     201 

are  not  to  be  found  alone  in  these  halls,  or  in  those 
where  similar  institutions  teach  the  higher  branches 
of  learning  and  science,  but  equally  in  the  hum 
blest  village  schoolhouse,  wherever  in  the  broad 
land  it  nestles  in  the  valley  or  by  the  wayside. 

In  marshalling  the  degrees  of  honor,  Lord  Bacon 
has  assigned  the  highest  place  to  the  conditores 
imperiorum,  or  founders  of  States.  With  other 
peoples  it  has  been  pleasant  to  invest  them  with 
the  colors  of  poetry  and  romance.  It  is  to  the 
immortal  gods  that  Romulus  traces  his  ancestry  ; 
and  the  shadowy  Arthur  who  leads  the  line  of 
Britain's  kings  is  the  poetic  type  of  piety,  truth, 
and  courage.  But  the  founders  of  New  England 
we  know  as  they  were ;  nor  is  there  any  danger 
in  an  age  that  differs  so  widely  from  that  in  which 
they  lived  that  their  defects  will  not  be  pointed 
out  and  their  shortcomings  clearly  exposed.  These 
men  are  revealed  to  us  alike  by  their  acts  and  their 
own  written  words.  Learned  beyond  any  body  of 
men  who  ever  went  forth  to  tempt  the  fortunes  of 
a  new  world,  their  habit  of  self-inspection,  and, 
above  all,  that  of  bearing  true  witness,  give  them 
to  us  in  their  diaries  and  their  notebooks  as  they 
were.  We  see  them  in  their  weakness  and  their 
strength.  In  that  which  they  came  to  do,  they 
were  thoroughly  in  earnest.  In  the  path  they  had 
marked  out  they  intended  to  walk ;  those  who 
would  walk  with  them  were  welcome ;  for  others 
they  had  no  place.  If  success  was  theirs,  they  were 
willing  to  ascribe  all  the  glory  to  God ;  but  they 


202     ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI. 

knew  that  in  these  latter  days  he  works  by  human 
means  and  human  agencies,  and  that  it  was  for 
them  to  seek  to  compass  all  for  which  they  prayed. 
They  believed  in  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of 
Gideon ;  but  the  sword  of  Gideon  was  the  good 
weapon  that  hung  in  their  own  belts,  and  whose 
hilt  was  within  the  grasp  of  their  own  strong 
right  hands.  They  looked  for  no  miracles  to  be 
wrought :  the  ground  must  be  tilled  if  it  was  to 
bring  forth  bread  ;  the  forest  must  be  felled  if  there 
were  to  be  fields  and  pastures ;  the  sea  must  be 
vexed  by  their  lines  and  nets  if  they  would  eat  of 
its  fish.  They  had  brought  with  them  an  edu 
cated  clergy  trained  in  the  great  English  univer 
sities  :  they  did  not  propose  to  be  separated  from 
the  instructions  of  its  knowledge  and  culture ; 
unless  these  could  grow  and  increase  as  wealth 
and  numbers  came  to  them,  they  that  builded  the 
city  would  have  builded  it  in  vain.  "  Learning,"  to 
use  their  own  fine  expression,  was  not  "  to  be 
buried  in  the  graves  of  the  fathers." 

As  they  sat  together  in  the  rude  chamber  where 
the  General  Court  met,  November  7,  1636,  could 
we  have  looked  upon  them,  they  \vould  have 
seemed  to  our  eyes  plain  in  dress  and  manners 
and  stern  in  aspect,  for  the  responsibilities  upon 
them  were  heavy  and  solemn  ;  yet  we  should  have 
seen  also  how  high  resolve,  earnest  purpose,  de 
voted  faith,  dignified  and  ennobled  their  grave  and 
manly  features.  Henry  Vane  was  there,  — 

"  Vane  young  in  years,  yet  in  sage  counsel  old,'* 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI.     203 

as  Milton  has  written  of  him  ;  Hugh  Peters  was 
there ;  both  afterwards  to  die  upon  the  scaffold  for 
their  stern  assertion  of  the  liberties  of  England. 
John  Winthrop  was  there,  and  without  question, 
as  he  is  always  seen  in  our  Annals,  sweet  and 
calm,  wise  and  brave.  *0f  all  that  was  there  said 
nothing  is  preserved  ;  neither  diary,  memoran 
dum,  nor  notebook  yield  a  word,  although  care 
fully  and  lovingly  searched.  What  they  did  the 
record  tells.  Yet  the  illustrious  orator  who  stood 
fifty  years  ago  where  I  most  unworthily  stand 
to-day,  imagined  in  words  well  befitting  the  occa 
sion  the  speech  which  John  Winthrop  might  have 
made ;  and  we  join  in  the  aspiration  with  which  it 
concludes  :  "  So  long  as  New  England  or  America 
hath  a  name  on  the  earth's  surface,  the  fame  and 
the  fruit  of  this  day's  work  shall  be  blessed." 

These  men  were  in  many  respects,  certainly  in 
lofty  conception,  above  the  age  in  which  they 
lived :  nowhere  can  it  be  said  that  they  fell  below 
it.  Yet  neither  they  nor  any  body  of  men  ever 
burst  through  the  environment  of  the  temper  and 
thought  of  the  age  in  which  their  lot  was  cast. 
If  they  were  intolerant  of  other  modes  of  belief, 
this  was  the  result  of  their  peculiar  political  situ 
ation  rather  than  of  indifference  to  the  rights  of 
others.  When  power  fully  came  to  them,  as  it 
did  come  in  England,  the  belief  of  others  was 
respected.  Every  sect  in  its  weakness  counsels 
toleration ;  but  Mr.  Hume,  one  of  the  bitterest 
of  their  critics,  says  of  them  :  "  Of  all  Christian 


204     ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI. 

sects,  this  was  the  first  which  during  its  pros 
perity  as  well  as  its  adversity  always  adopted 
the  principle  of  toleration." 

Certainly  this  college  bears  no  marks  of  intoler 
ance,  if  that  charge  can  rightfully  be  brought 
elsewhere  against  the  founders  of  New  England. 
Established  primarily  for  theological  instruction; 
he  whose  name  it  bears,  and  whose  gift  made  its 
existence  possible,  a  clergyman  ;  controlled  by  the 
ministry  at  a  time  when  in  all  the  affairs  of  the 
colony  their  influence  was  little  less  than  para 
mount,  —  the  liberal  spirit  of  each  charter  and 
constitution  it  has  received  has  been  such  that  its 
advantages  and  privileges  have  been  at  the  dis 
posal  of  all,  irrespective  of  differences  of  belief.  Let 
every  one  that  thirsteth  come  and  drink  freely. 
No  creed  was  ever  to  be  signed,  no  form  of  faith 
professed,  no  catechism  answered  by  student  or 
professor.  In  reverent  faith  its  founders  enter 
tained  the  then  prevalent  doctrines  of  the  Protes 
tant  Church.  Their  difference  with  the  Anglican 
Church  had  been  one  of  ritual  and  discipline  rather 
than  of  doctrine.  They  must  have  understood  how 
large  an  instrument  of  authority  and  influence  a 
great  seat  of  learning  is  in  its  sway  over  opinion, 
but  they  did  not  seek  to  control  it  by  any  formulas 
which  should  bind  the  consciences  of  those  who 
resorted  to  it. 

The  quarter  of  a  millennium  which  has  elapsed 
since  the  foundation  of  our  college  carries  us  back 
even  more  than  is  indicated  merely  by  the  number 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI.  205 

of  its  years.  It  marks  the  dawn  of  the  present  era 
in  literature  and  science.  Shakespeare  and  Bacon 
were  but  a  few  years  dead ;  Milton  was  yet  in  his 
youth  ;  Newton  was  still  to  come.  With  all  the  ad 
vance  of  what  may  be  called  modern  Europe  our 
University  is  identified,  and  steadily  it  mus.t  adapt 
itself  in  its  high  office  of  instruction  to  the  wants  of 
each  generation  and  its  growing  needs.  Firmly 
fixed,  it  stands  upon  the  rocks ;  but  the  guidance 
which  it  shall  give  to  those  who  look  for  its  light 
must  be  such  as  they  can  follow  through  every 
channel  that  learning  or  science  may  hereafter  dis 
cover.  The  control  which  its  Alumni  have  by 
electing  its  overseers  imposes  on  us  the  duty  of 
ultimately  determining  what  changes  shall  from 
time  to  time  be  made,  and  how  it  shall  best  fulfil 
its  great  office.  It  is  a  grave  and  solemn  trust,  to 
be  administered  in  reverent  gratitude  to  those  who 
have  gone  before  us,  whose  labors  we  have  enjoyed, 
and  in  the  earnest  wish  that  those  who  may  follow 
us  may  reap  an  abundant  harvest  from  the  seed  we 
shall  sow.  Proportions  vary ;  relations  change. 
The  mighty  march  which  has  been  made  in  phy 
sical  science ;  the  carefully  guarded  secrets  which 
Nature,  pursued  and  tortured  in  a  thousand  ways, 
has  been  compelled  to  reveal  ;  the  powers  and 
forces  which  have  been  discovered  and  applied  to 
the  service  of  man,  —  have  changed  the  relative 
position  which  the  arts  and  sciences  must  here 
after  occupy  in  any  system  of  general  education. 
The  literature  of  modern  Europe,  including  that 


206    ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI. 

of  our  own  English  tongue,  to  which  our  own 
countrymen  have  contributed  much,  could  not  be 
said  to  have  had  an  existence  on  the  day  when 
our  college  was  founded.  It  necessarily  demands 
and  must  receive  a  larger  place,  as  it  embodies 
what  is  best  and  noblest  in  modern  thought.  Yet 
it  does  not  follow  that  our  obligation  to  that  of 
the  classic  ages  is  to  be  denied  or  disowned.  Nor 
need  we  feel  that  what  has  done  so  much  to  dignify 
and  elevate  the  life  of  man  will  lose  its  genial  in 
fluence,  that  the  language  immortalized  by  "  Tally's 
voice  and  Virgil's  lay  and  Livy's  pictured  page  "  is 
to  be  forgotten,  or  that  the  mighty  instrument  of 
thought  and  speech  with  which  Demosthenes  ful- 
mined  over  Greece  is  to  be  cast  aside  as  broken 
and  useless. 

But  whatever  changes  are  to  come  to  our 
University,  its  faithful  spirit  in  the  culture  of, 
knowledge  is  not  to  change ;  nor  will  it  ever 
be  discouraged  in  the  attempt  to  establish  the 
foundations  of  that  noble  and  high  character 
which  makes  useful  men  able  in  their  own  per 
sons  to  exhibit  exalted  lives.  Apart  from  all 
direct  instruction,  religious  or  moral,  there  should 
be  an  atmosphere  which  shall  impart  to  those 
around  whom  it  flows  an  inspiration  to  be  worthy 
and  true.  In  the  theocracy  of  the  Puritans,  those 
educated  here  were  to  be  its  churchmen,  statesmen, 
and  leaders  of  its  people.  All  this  is  changed ; 
but  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  leaders  are 
no  longer  to  exist.  We  have  passed  out  from  the 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI.     207 

age  of  authority,  but  the  foundations  upon  which 
authority  should  rightfully  exist  are  not  therefore 
destroyed.  There  was  never  a  time  when  philan 
thropic  effort  met  a  more  generous  response,  when 
wise  and  mature  thought  met  higher  appreciation, 
when  carefully  considered  utterance  found  larger 
audience,  or  when  educated  men  ready  to  perform 
the  great  duties  of  life  could  render  more  efficient 
service.  That  this  University  has  fulfilled  in  a 
large  measure  the  hopes  of  its  founders  in  the 
broad  and  general  aspects  in  which  its  anticipated 
benefits  were  presented  to  their  minds,  we  would 
willingly  believe.  The  list  of  its  scholars,  of  its 
lovers  of  polite  literature,  of  its  teachers,  its  scien 
tists,  its  statesmen,  bears  honored  and  illustrious 
names.  But  it  is  not  upon  these  alone  that  its  fame 
is  to  rest.  Even  if  it  has  been  said  of  the  majority 
of  men,  "  They  will  have  perished  as  though  they 
had  never  been,  and  will  become  as  though  they 
had  never  been  born,"  this,  when  spoken  of  brave 
and  faithful  men,  such  as  this  college  has  sent  forth 
by  hundreds  and  even  thousands,  is  far  from  true. 
Our  vision  is  weak  and  narrow  :  it  is  only  when 
service  is  marked  and  peculiar  that  to  our  eyes  it 
becomes  apparent.  The  village  Hampdens,  "  the 
mute,  inglorious"  Miljtons,  do  not  perish  as  if  they 
had  never  been.  The  professional  men,  who  in 
their  day  have  served  the  communities  in  which 
they  dwelt  —  the  schoolmaster,  the  physician,  the 
clergyman,  who  have  not  only  taught  but  led  the 
way  to  a  higher  life — have  found  here  their 


208  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI. 

moral  and  intellectual  training.  Those  who  have 
found  in  commerce  or  its  kindred  pursuits  their 
appropriate  sphere,  or  those  so  placed  by  fortune 
that  it  has  not  been  necessary  to  pursue  the  gain 
ful  callings  of  life,  have  been  made  here  men  of 
feeling  and  culture,  dignifying  and  elevating  the 
world  around  them.  Men  like  these  mould,  edu 
cate,  and  control  society.  They  do  not  look  that 
any  laurel  wreath  of  fame  shall  adorn  their  brows ; 
it  is  enough  for  them  that  they  are  brave  and 
steadfast  soldiers  in  the  great  army  by  whose 
fidelity  and  courage  the  world  advances. 

Nor  in  the  great  crises  of  the  nation  has  it  been 
found  heretofore  that  this  college  has  been  unworthy 
of  its  high  purpose.  In  the  struggles  by  which  the 
English  people  fought  their  own  way  to  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  in  the  great  debate  which  pre 
ceded  the  conflict  of  arms  with  Great  Britain 
herself,  the  men  educated  here  were  ever  promi 
nent.  All  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  from  Massachusetts  were  its  children. 
Nor  in  the  great  struggle  for  national  life  which 
came  to  our  own  generation  were  its  sons  wanting. 
Certainly,  standing  in  this  Hall  which  pious  care 
has  reared  to  their  memory,  I  cannot  forget  the 
young,  the  beautiful,  the  brave,  who  nobly  perilled 
or  who  nobly  surrendered  life  in  that  terrible  con 
flict.  A  subject  race  has  been  rescued  from  bon 
dage  ;  a  nation  has  been  lifted  from  the  thraldom 
to  which  itself  had  been  condemned  by  its  own 
toleration ;  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union  has  been 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI.  209 

established  forever.  Such  a  cause  has  consecrated 
those  who  have  died  in  its  defence. 

By  these  festival  rites  we  surrender  to  the  cen 
tury  that  is  to  follow  this  University.  Adorned, 
improved,  and  with  greater  capacity  for  the  noble 
work  of  education,  it  certainly  is  ;  nor  will  we  for 
get  the  noble  spirit  by  which  its  founders  were 
actuated.  It  is  not  necessary  to  accept  the  reli 
gious  dogmas  of  the  Puritans,  or  to  attach  the 
importance  they  did  to  propositions  in  theology  ; 
but  we  must  admire  their  spirit  of  self-sacrifice, 
their  sincere  desire  to  elevate  their  own  lives  by 
a  faith  which  lifted  them  above  all  that  was  igno 
ble  in  the  present,  and  gilded  with  a  divine  light 
all  that  was  sordid  around  them.  Far  below  their 
lofty  ideal  standards  they  fell,  no  doubt,  yet  these 
were  ever  above  them.  Wealth,  rank,  worldly  suc 
cess,  were  nothing ;  where  truth  led  the  way  they 
were  to  follow ;  what  duty  commanded,  that  they 
were  to  do.  To  them  much  that  we  see  around  us 
would  appear  strange ;  these  splendid  edifices,  these 

"storied  windows  richly  dight, 
Casting  their  dim,  religious  light," 

would  seem  at  variance  with  the  simplicity  they 
loved  ;  but  we  will  not  doubt  our  communion  with 
them  so  long  as  we  are  loyal  to  truth  and  duty. 
Nor,  if  thus  faithful,  will  we  doubt  that  the  calm 
scholar  whose  figure,  moulded  by  a  skilful  hand, 
sits  in  perennial  youth  at  our  portals,  were  he  to 
come  again  in  bodily  presence,  would  fail  to  recog- 

14 


210     ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  HARVARD  ALUMNI. 

nize  us  as  the  children  for  whom  his  bounty  was 
intended. 

The  structure  that  has  been  reared  here  contains 
in  itself  all  the  elements  of  growth  and  perma 
nence.  In  each  age,  those  who  are  to  follow  us 
shall  repair,  restore,  and  renew  it  as  wisdom  and 
knowledge  shall  instruct  them.  The  sands  of  the 
desert  are  piled  high  above  the  monuments  which 
Egyptian  kings  have  reared  to  commemorate  their 
conquests  and  their  renown  ;  those  of  graceful  and 
artistic  Greece,  and  of  mighty  Rome,  crumble  and 
fall  into  the  dust,  —  but  if  their  sons  are  faithful, 
against  this  edifice  of  our  fathers  the  waves  of  time 
shall  beat  in  vain.  No  creeping  ivy  shall  throw 
out  its  green  and  flaunting  banner  from  ruined 
battlements;  but  above  its  towers,  strengthened 
by  the  noblest  thought  of  each  coming  age,  shall 
float  forever  our  simple  word,  "  VERITAS." 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION 

IN    MEMORY    OF    GENERAL    SHERIDAN, 
NOVEMBER  7,  1888. 


MR.  COMMANDER  AND  COMPANIONS,  —  As  we 
gather  at  our  first  autumnal  meeting,  there  is  a 
shadow  thrown  over  it  by  the  reflection  that  since 
we  last  assembled  we  have  been  called  to  part 
with  the  illustrious  soldier  who  was  the  head  of 
our  national  organization.  In  obedience  to  the  di 
rection  of  our  Commander,  I  rise  to  speak  some 
words,  inadequate  although  they  must  be,  of  him, 
and  of  the  love  and  honor  in  which  we  held  him. 

If  the  hour  of  friendly  intercourse,  when  hand 
clasps  hand  in  affectionate  recognition,  is  saddened, 
it  is  dignified  also  by  the  remembrance  of  what  Gen 
eral  Sheridan  has  been  to  the  country  of  which  we,  in 
our  more  humble  capacity,  as  well  as  he,  have  been 
soldiers.  We  would  recall  him  to-night  not  in 
sorrow  only,  but  in  honor,  in  gratitude  for  what 
we  have  received,  not  less  than  in  regret  for  what 
we  have  lost.  He  is  but  a  little  in  advance  on  the 
path  we  all  must  travel,  as  the  great  historic 
events  in  which  we  have  been  actors  pass  into 
history.  It  is  agreeable  to  remember  that  he  was 
the  guest  of  this  Commandery  for  a  few  days  dur- 


212     ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  SHERIDAN. 

ing  the  past  winter,  when  each  one  of  us  enjoyed 
his  cordial  greeting.  His  life  ebbed  away,  too,  on 
the  shores  of  the  southern  bay  of  Massachusetts,, 
where  he  had  made  his  summer  home ;  and  it  was 
the  sad  privilege  of  some  of  our  companions  to  aid 
in  bearing  his  remains  to  the  train  which  was  to 
conduct  them  to  our  national  capital,  there  to  rest 
forever  among  those  who  have  offered  their  lives 
for  the  Republic. 

The  occasion  is  not  adapted  for  an  elaborate 
address ;  yet  you  will  pardon  me  if  I  briefly  touch 
on  some  of  the  events  in  the  career  of  General 
Sheridan,  for  of  him  it  may  properly  be  said  that 
his  deeds  are  his  eulogy. 

Born  at  Somerset,  in  Ohio,  on  March  6,  1831,  he 
graduated  from  West  Point  in  the  class  of  1853. 
He  was  a  captain  in  the  Thirteenth  Infantry  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  for  more  than  a 
year  thereafter  rendered  staff  duty,  which,  if  val 
uable,  called  for  ability  of  quite  a  different  order 
from  that  which  he  subsequently  displayed.  It 
was  not  until  the  27th  of  May,  1862,  that  he  re 
ceived  an  appointment  as  colonel  of  the  Second 
Michigan  Cavalry.  This  gave  him  the  first  oppor 
tunity  for  the  display  of  his  abilities  in  the  field,  and 
they  were  not  long  concealed.  Joining,  with  his 
regiment,  in  the  operations  which  accompanied  the 
evacuation  of  Corinth,  his  dash,  vigor,  and  judg 
ment  were  at  once  recognized.  On  the  1st  of  July, 
in  command,  as  colonel,  of  a  brigade  of  cavalry, 
composed  of  but  two  regiments  (one  his  own),  at 


ADDRESS   ON    GENERAL   SHERIDAN.          213 

Booneville,  in  Mississippi,  some  twenty  miles  in 
front  of  our  main  army,  he  was  attacked  by  Gen 
eral  Chalmers,  with  a  force  of  some  five  or  six 
thousand  men,  —  at  least  three  times  his  own 
number.  This  little  battle,  now  almost  forgotten, 
when  so  many  larger  conflicts  arrest  the  attention, 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  war,  for  it 
ended  not  only  in  his  beating  off  the  enemy,  but 
in  putting  him  to  utter  rout.  Here  he  won  his 
first  star,  and  his  commission  as  brigadier.  Were 
there  time  to  recall  the  details  of  it,  you  would 
recognize  how  fully  it  shows  the  characteristics  he 
afterwards  exhibited  on  larger  fields.  As  a  general 
he  was  essentially  aggressive.  If  compelled  to 
fight,  having  inferior  numbers  to  his  adversary, 
he  yet  held  it  was  better  to  attack  than  to  wait 
the  attack  of  the  enemy.  Self-confident,  but  in  no 
vain-glorious  way,  naturally  sanguine  and  full  of 
resources,  his  fiery  and  almost  audacious  courage 
suggested  to  him  plans  which  might  have  seemed 
rash,  but  that  his  vigor  in  execution  demonstrated 
that  they  could  be  successfully  carried  out.  He 
said,  in  conversation  here  last  winter,  "  Some  gen 
erals,  and  pretty  good  ones  too,  fight  a  battle  so 
that  they  shall  be  sure  not  to  be  beaten  them 
selves  ;  but  I  always  fight  to  beat  the  other  man." 
This  was  the  key  to  his  tactics  and  his  success.  It 
was  from  "the  nettle  danger"  that,  like  Hotspur, 
he  strove  to  "pluck  the  flower  safety."  Yet  it 
would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  he 
lacked  prudence.  In  all  that  wariness  and  skill 


214     ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  SHERIDAN. 

could  do  to  accomplish  his  results  he  was  never 
wanting. 

We  speak  of  General  Sheridan  often  as  a  cavalry 
general ;  but  for  more  than  a  year  and  a  half  after 
the  battle  to  which  I  have  alluded  he  commanded 
infantry ;  and  his  subsequent  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Shenandoah,  and  his  conduct  of  the 
pursuit  of  Lee,  show  how  thoroughly  he  under 
stood  each  of  the  great  arms  of  the  service. 

In  September,  1862,  he  was  transferred  to  a 
division  in  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  fighting  in  the 
successful  battle  of  Perry ville,  under  Buell.  As 
signed  to  a  division  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land,  at  Murfreesborough,  in  December,  1862,  he 
bore  his  part  most  gallantly,  under  Rosecrans,  in 
that  terrible,  and,  at  first,  doubtful  day.  The 
battle  went  against  us  in  the  wing  of  the  army 
where  his  division  fought ;  and  after  repulsing  four 
successive  attacks,  his  command  was  finally  com 
pelled  to  fall  back  to  a  position  where  he  rallied  it, 
and  held  it  firmly  against  the  enemy,  who  tried  in 
vain  to  complete  the  victory,  and  who  were  the 
next  day  obliged  to  abandon  the  field.  For  his 
skilful  handling  of  his  troops  he  received  the 
warmest  praise  from  Rosecrans,  who  recommended 
him  for  promotion  as  a  major-general,  a  distinction 
which  was  promptly  accorded. 

At  Chickamauga,  in  September  of  the  following 
year,  he  still  commanded  a  division  of  the  Army  of 
the  Cumberland.  The  defeat  received  there  by  us 
was,  on  the  whole,  in  its  anticipated  results,  the 


ADDRESS   ON   GENERAL   SHERIDAN.  215 

most  serious  ever  inflicted  on  the  Union  arms,  for 
it  threatened  destruction  to  our  control  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  Valley,  which  had  been  won  at  so  much 
expense  of  blood  and  treasure.  Sheridan's  own 
division  was  in  the  worst  of  the  disaster.  No  man 
had  ever  greater  power  of  inspiring  the  troops 
under  him  with  confidence  in  himself,  and  with 
breathing  into  them  the  fire  of  his  own  courage, 
than  he.  That  magnetic  quality  soldiers  who 
may  deservedly  be  called  great  from  their  powers 
to  plan  campaigns,  and  from  their  strategic  capa 
city,  sometimes  lack ;  but  no  man  without  it  can 
be  on  the  field  a  successful  general.  All  that 
General  Sheridan  possessed  was  needed  on  that 
day,  and  was  well  used.  While  the  stern  bravery 
of  Thomas  held  firmly  on  his  part  of  the  line, 
Sheridan  succeeded  in  rallying  his  broken  troops 
and  re-forming  his.  line,  and  he  was  advancing  to 
support  Thomas  when  he  received  the  order  to  re 
main  where  he  was,  and  allow  the  army  to  fall 
back  on  him.  The  day  which  could  not  be 
redeemed  from  defeat  was  thus  rescued  from 
rout  and  utter  disaster. 

It  was  at  the  great  battle  of  Chattanooga,  on 
Missionary  Ridge,  which  followed  some  two  months 
later,  that  General  Grant  is  believed  to  have  first 
seen  Sheridan's  command  under  fire,  and  to  have 
begun  to  form  the  opinion  which  he  afterwards 
entertained,  that  he  was  unsurpassed  in  the  world 
as  a  general  on  the  field  and  in  the  immediate 
command  of  troops.  The  defeat  of  Chickamauga 


216  ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL   SHERIDAN. 

had  been  received  with  dismay ;  but  the  battle  of 
Chattanooga  —  one  of  the  most  important  won  by 
Grant  —  not  only  restored  our  position,  but  opened 
the  way  for  Sherman's  march  to  Atlanta.  On  the 
day  of  the  battle,  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
then  under  Thomas,  held  the  centre  of  the  line ; 
and  when  the  hour  for  the  assault  came,  its  troops, 
among  whom  the  divisions  of  Wood  and  Sheridan 
were  foremost,  rushed  up  the  mountain  wall,  clam 
bering  from  ridge  to  ridge  with  a  furious  energy 
which  swept  all  before  them.  Sheridan  used  to 
say  jestingly  that  he  never  knew  who  ordered 
such  an  assault  as  that ;  and  that  "  his  division, 
that  day,  got  away  from  him."  It  certainly  did 
not  get  far  away,  as  he  too  was  up  when  it 
crowned  the  mountain  crest,  fully  prepared  to 
direct  the  stern  pursuit  of  the  retreating  foe.  It 
had,  in  fact,  been  intended,  after  taking  the  first 
line  of  the  enemy's  works,  to  halt  and  re-form  ;  but 
the  blood  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was 
up,  and  in  the  presence  of  Hooker  on  the  right, 
with  his  Potomac  troops,  and  Sherman  on  the  left, 
with  those  from  Mississippi,  it  was  ready  to  show 
itself  worthy  of  those  who  had  come  so  far  to 
its  support. 

General  Sheridan  carne  to  the  East  with  General 
Grant,  on  the  appointment  of  the  latter  to  the 
command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Union.  The 
Army  of  the  Shenandoah  was  formed,  to  be  placed 
under  his  command  late  in  the  summer  of  1864. 
Without  alluding,  except  by  name,  to  Opequan, 


ADDRESS   ON    GENERAL   SHERIDAN.  217 

Winchester,  and  Fisher's  Hill,  the  battle  of  Ceda*r 
Creek,  as  illustrating  his  vast  power  over  men,  and 
his  courage  under  circumstances  the  most  adverse, 
must  be  mentioned  in  any  sketch  of  him,  however 
imperfect.  His  army  was  skilfully  attacked  in  his 
absence,  one  division  utterly  surprised,  and  all 
gradually  forced  back  until,  in  some  portions  of  his 
army,  the  retreat  had  become  a  rout.  Twenty  miles 
away  he  heard  the  roar  of  the  conflict,  and,  waiting 
for  no  aids  or  guards,  he  started  at  once  for  the 
field.  His  very  progress  was  blocked  as  he  neared 
the  field  by  fugitives,  to  all  of  whom  he  cried,  "  Go 
back ;  go  back  to  your  regiments  !  we  will  sleep  in 
our  old  camps  to-night,"  until,  for  very  shame,  his 
voice  was  listened  to.  As  he  reached  the  field,  the 
rout  to  some  extent  had  been  checked ;  and  two 
divisions  had  always  stood  resolute  and  firm.  His 
presence  on  the  field  was  an  inspiration,  regiment 
after  regiment  getting  into  position,  men  who  could 
not  find  their  own  regiments  going  into  others 
willingly,  all  animated  by  the  fire  of  this  daring 
spirit,  who  seemed  to  have  come  upon  the  scene, 
as  in  the  Roman  mythology,  the  war-god  himself 
descended  when  the  battle  seemed  lost  to  his 
children.  The  line  was  re-formed  ;  and  firmly  he 
awaited  the  last  assault  of  the  Confederate  troops, 
which,  vigorously  made,  was  sternly  repulsed.  And 
now  his  own  time  had  come.  Riding  down  his  line, 
received  with  rapturous  cheers  by  men  some  of 
whom  had  been  fugitives  but  a  few  hours  before, 
but  who  were  now  ready  to  die  for  such  a  leader,  as 


218     ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  SHERIDAN. 

he  cried  :  "  We  are  going  back  to  the  camps  we 
left ;  we  will  have  back  every  inch  of  ground  we 
have  lost,  —  every  inch,  remember,"  —  the  word 
for  the  assault  was  given ;  all  that  had  been  lost 
was  regained,  and  General  Early  again  went 
"  whirling  up  the  valley." 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be  a  very  wide  or  accurate 
reader  of  military  history  ;  but  I  believe  it  contains 
no  account  of  any  battle  utterly  lost  that  has  been 
redeemed  by  the  wisdom,  the  valor,  the  inspiration 
that  came  from  only  one  man.  Great  fields  have 
indeed  often  been  recovered  by  the  opportune  ar 
rival  of  fresh  troops,  led  by  a  competent  general. 
Marengo,  which  Napoleon  always  felt  to  be  one  of 
the  greatest  of  his  victories,  seemed  at  the  middle 
of  the  day  so  clearly  lost  that  the  Austrian  general 
had  retired  to  his  tent,  leaving  the  pursuit  to  his 
second  in  command.  General  Desaix,  who  had  been 
despatched  in  a  different  direction,  had  marched  at 
the  sound  of  the  cannon,  and  without  orders,  at 
once  to  the  scene  of  the  conflict.  Behind  him  were 
more  than  ten  thousand  of  the  best  troops  of  the 
French  Army.  "  What  do  you  think  of  the  battle, 
Desaix  ?  "  said  Bonaparte  to  him.  "  I  think,  Gen 
eral  Bonaparte,  this  battle  is  lost ;  but  before  night 
fall,  with  myself  and  my  troops,  you  will  be  sure 
to  win  another."  The  result  proved  the  accuracy 
of  his  prediction,  although  the  brave  soldier  who 
uttered  it  gave  his  own  life  to  verify  it.  But  at 
Cedar  Creek,  out  of  a  broken,  dispirited,  almost 
formless  mob,  one  man  alone  had  re-created  an 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL   SHERIDAN.  219 

army,  had  filled  it  full  with  his  own  patriotic  cour 
age,  and  led  it  to  victory  over  a  foe  flushed  with 
success,  to  which  it  had  yielded  seven  or  eight 
miles  of  ground.  If  Sheridan  swore  a  little  while 
he  was  doing  this,  as  Dr.  Bartol  thinks  he  may 
have  done,  I  am  altogether  of  the  Reverend  Doctor's 
opinion  also,  that  he  swore  in  sustaining  a  great 
and  holy  cause,  —  that  of  his  country  ;  and  I  trust 
that  the  accusing  angel  did  not  deem  it  necessary 
to  write  down  every  hot  word  against  him. 

In  this  matter  of  swearing  some  injustice  has 
been  done  General  Sheridan.  The  makers  of  anec 
dotes  spice  them  high,  and  do  not  shrink  from 
slight  exaggeration.  Remember  what  a  battle-field 
is,  —  that  it  is  no  place  for  calm  discussion,  but  for 
instant  action.  If  in  such  moments  he  used  some 
of  those  expletives  in  which  the  English  language 
is  said  to  be  peculiarly  rich,  remember  the  intense 
excitement  and  ardent  passion  in  which  he  had 
to  speak.  In  no  sense  was  General  Sheridan  a 
coarsely  or  vulgarly  profane  man,  far  less  was 
he  a  contemner  or  despiser  of  sacred  things.  He 
was  faithful  to  the  Church  in  which  he  had  been 
reared,  respectful  to  its  ordinances  and  its  min 
isters  always. 

It  was  the  intention  of  General  Grant  not  only 
to  defeat  Lee  in  the  spring  of  1865,  —  which,  in  an 
earlier  stage  of  the  war,  would  have  been  enough, 
—  but  to  compel  his  surrender.  It  would  have 
been  a  grave  disaster  if,  escaping,  he  could  unite 
with  Johnston,  and,  moving  towards  the  southwest, 


220  ADDRESS  ON   GENERAL   SHERIDAN. 

could  continue  the  war.  In  such  a  struggle,  which 
would  turn  out  to  be  finally  a  race  between  swiftly 
moving  bodies  of  troops,  the  cavalry  would  play  a 
most  important  part.  To  command  this,  and  the 
infantry  which  would  from  time  to  time  support 
it,  General  Sheridan  came  from  the  Valley  of  Vir 
ginia.  In  giving  his  orders  to  pass  to  the  extreme 
right  of  the  Confederate  Army,  it  was  contemplated 
by  Grant  that,  in  certain  contingencies,  Sheridan 
might  himself  be  separated  from  the  Potomac  Army 
and  compelled  to  move  towards  Sherman.  Ob 
serving  that  Sheridan  looked  somewhat  grave  at 
this,  General  Grant  says  in  his  Memoirs,  "  I  told 
him  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  intended  to  close 
the  war  right  here  with  this  movement,  and  that 
it  should  go  no  further.  His  face  at  once  bright 
ened  at  this ;  and  slapping  his  thigh,  he  said.  (  I 
am  glad  to  hear  it,  and  we  can  do  it.'  ' 

Then  followed  the  attack  on  the  Petersburg  line 
by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  while,  with  match 
less  skill,  Sheridan  at  Dinwiddie,  Five  Forks, 
Jetersville,  and  Sailor's  Creek,  checked  the  retreat 
of  Lee  to  the  southward,  and  at  Appomattox  closed 
the  last  avenue  of  escape  towards  the  West  with 
his  cavalry  and  the  rapidly  moving  infantry  which 
sustained  it. 

His  later  services,  if  less  splendid  than  those  to 
which  I  have  called  attention,  were  in  a  high  de 
gree  valuable  and  useful  to  the  country.  Made 
lieutenant-general  in  1869,  on  the  promotion  of 
General  Sherman,  he  succeeded  to  the  command  of 


ADDRESS  ON  GENERAL  SHERIDAN.    221 

the  army  in  1884,  and  a  few  months  before  he  died 
he  received,  by  the  title  of  general,  the  highest  mil 
itary  rank  which  the  country  has  ever  bestowed. 

While  I  have  necessarily  spoken  only  of  his  mili 
tary  achievements,  let  us  remember,  as  we  part 
from  this  illustrious  chieftain,  that  he  was  not 
merely  a  soldier  with  a  passion  for  war.  He  was 
an  intense  believer  in  the  high  destiny  of  this 
nation,  and  in  the  preservation  of  the  American 
Union.  He  was  a  thoroughly  patriotic  man. 

Our  citizens  of  Irish  birth  and  Irish  descent  have 
a  right  to  be  proud  of  their  record  in  the  Civil  War 
and  of  the  many  brave  men  they  contributed  to 
our  armies.  They  have  a  right  also  to  be  proud 
that  this  great  soldier  was  of  their  race  and  blood. 
He  possessed  many  of  the  highest  qualities  which 
have  distinguished  the  Irish  people.  Not  having 
the  rare  gift  of  eloquence  which  has  been  bestowed 
so  largely  upon  the  countrymen  of  Burke  and 
Grattan,  of  Curran  and  O'Connell,  speaking  always 
reluctantly  before  public  audiences,  and  indeed  be 
fore  gatherings  of  his  old  comrades,  —  when  he  did 
thus  speak,  his  keen  wit,  his  terse  expression,  gave 
point  always  to  his  utterance.  But  on  the  battle 
field  he  had  the  eloquence  of  intense  feeling.  He 
knew  just  what  to  say,  and  how  to  say  it  so  as  to 
make  the  deepest  impression  and  insure  the  readiest 
response.  There  his  words,  short,  abrupt,  in 
cisive,  came  with  the  directness  of  rifle-shots, 
cheering  the  hesitating,  fiercely  rebuking  the  re 
luctant,  and  directing  the  storm  with  a  voice  that 
must  be  obeyed. 


222  ADDRESS  ON   GENERAL   SHERIDAN. 

To  say  that  he  was  brave  is  little,  for  the  same 
might  be  said  of  thousands  of  other  men.  While 
he  was  fearless  as  the  sabre  that  swung  by  his 
side,  he  was  wise,  —  regarding  the  lives  of  the  men 
he  commanded  as  a  trust  not  to  be  imperilled  ex 
cept  as  the  result  to  be  expected  would  justify  risk, 
but  when  that  time  came,  launching  his  troops  on 
the  enemy  like  a  thunderbolt.  Not  Murat,  whose 
brilliant  charges  did  so  much  to  win  so  many  of 
Napoleon's  battles ;  not  Prince  Rupert,  whose  fiery 
courage  at  the  head  of  the  English  cavaliers  al 
most  saved  the  crown  of  his  royal  kinsman,  King 
Charles,  —  had  more  impetuous  valor  than  he  ;  and 
neither  of  them  in  the  fury  and  rage  of  the  onset 
had  a  more  sound,  unerring  judgment. 

He  was  generous  ;  no  broken  soldier  approached 
him  who  was  not  kindly  received  and  cordially 
welcomed.  If  sometimes  quick  in  temper,  he  was 
readily  appeased,  for  his  nature  was  loving  and 
forgiving. 

Not  the  least  interesting  or  least  amiable  charac 
teristic  of  the  Irish  people  is  their  strong  attachment 
to  friends  and  home  and  family.  It  was  a  marked 
feature  in  the  character  of  General  Sheridan.  He 
was  a  tender  and  loving  husband ;  he  was  a  kind 
father ;  he  was  a  grateful  and  devoted  son.  A  few 
years  ago,  I  had  the  honor  of  accompanying  General 
Grant  and  him  from  Detroit ;  and  he  left  us  at 
a  way-station  in  Ohio,  saying,  "  Once  a  year  at 
least,  I  try  to  make  a  visit  to  my  old  mother." 
Her  death,  which  took  place  but  a  little  before 
his  own,  was  concealed  from  him  on  account  of 


ADDRESS  ON   GENERAL   SHERIDAN.  223 

the  effect  it  might  produce  in  his  then  dangerous 
condition. 

But  while  General  Sheridan  possessed  many  of 
the  finest  characteristics  of  the  Irish  race  from 
which  he  was  descended ;  while  he  sympathized 
warmly,  I  doubt  not,  with  it  in  all  that  it  has  else 
where  been  called  to  endure,  —  he  was  essentially 
in  thought  and  feeling  an  American.  Born  upon 
the  soil  of  the  United  States,  and  within  its  alle 
giance,  he  knew  no  country  but  this  as  his  own. 
Educated  at  its  expense,  he  was  proud  to  be  one  of 
its  children.  He  was  ready  to  live  for  it ;  he  was 
ready  to  die  rather  than  that  one  stripe  should  be 
erased  or  one  star  obscured  in  its  glorious  ensign. 
He  was  national  in  feeling  to  his  very  heart's  core. 
When,  without  joining  in  the  splendid  review  at 
Washington,  he  was  sent  by  Grant  with  an  army 
corps  to  the  Rio  Grande  to  notify,  by  his  presence, 
imperial  France  that  her  attempt  to  break  down 
the  Republic  of  Mexico  and  establish  a  monarchy 
there  by  the  bayonets  of  Europe  must  cease,  he 
accepted  the  duty,  and  his  report  shows  with  what 
alacrity  he  did  so.  No  notice  was  ever  more  vigor 
ously  served,  or  more  promptly  responded  to. 

As  we  render  our  tribute  to-night  to  this  great 
soldier,  whom  we  have  a  right  to  call  by  the  tender 
names  of  "  comrade "  and  "  companion,"  we  are 
reminded  how  fast  the  numbers  diminish  of  those 
who  were  permitted  to  survive  the  war.  Meade 
and  Thomas,  the  fiery  Hooker,  the  chivalrous  Han 
cock,  —  the  head  of  our  Order  almost  from  its  organ 
ization  until  his  death,  — Grant  himself,  in  whom  is 


224  ADDRESS   ON   GENERAL   SHERIDAN. 

united  the  just  renown  of  all  the  armies  of  the 
Union,  are  gone.  The  fall  of  the  leaders  tells  how 
sternly  and  steadily  the  artillery  of  time  is  doing 
its  work.  Yet  the  land  itself  is  nobler  and  fairer 
by  reason  of  the  brave  men  who  have  been  ready 
to  die  for  it. 

"  The  waters  murmur  of  their  name  ; 
The  woods  are  peopled  with  their  fame." 

The  mountains  seem  to  lift  their  heads  more 
loftily,  and  the  rivers  to  move  to  the  sea  with  a 
more  majestic  sweep  as  they  are  ennobled  by  their 
memory.  While  that  memory  lives,  they  are  not 
dead,  for  they  stand  as  an  example  to  which  the 
humblest  is  entitled,  and  which  the  highest  cannot 
afford  to  despise.  They  stand  as  an  encouragement 
to  duty  and  patriotism,  and  their  honor  is  a  part 
of  the  inheritance  of  all  their  countrymen. 

And  if  (which  God  avert!)  war  should  come  to 
others,  as  it  came  to  us,  it  may  be  that  at  the  close 
of  some  hotly  contested  day,  when  it  shall  be  de 
termined  to  finish  with  the  advance  of  the  old  flag 
which  he  loved  and  under  which  he  fought  so  well, 
when  the  word  "  forward  "  shall  be  heard  from 
captain  to  captain  along  the  line,  the  name  of 
Sheridan,  as  a  watchword  and  a  battle-cry,  shall 
ring  from  rank  to  rank,  and  from  file  to  file,  to 
inspire  all  with  something  of  the  daring  and  the 
courage  of  this  great  and  heroic  soul. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THREE    ADDRESSES 

AS  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT 
ASSOCIATION  IN  1887,  1888,  1889. 


1887. 

WHILE  our  meeting  is  primarily  for  business 
purposes,  custom  has  permitted  to  the  President, 
on  occasions  when  no  formal  address  was  delivered 
before  the  Society,  a  few  words  in  relation  to  the 
great  day  whose  anniversary  it  is  our  immediate 
object  to  commemorate,  or  to  that  series  of  events 
which  preceded  or  followed  it,  and  of  which  it 
formed  an  integral  and  important  part.  I  avail 
myself  of  this  privilege  to  remind  you  that  we 
reach  this  year  the  great  Centennial  of  Peace,  in 
which  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  and  the  bloody 
fields  which  followed  it  found  their  culmination 
and  well-earned  reward. 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  has  a  name  in  our 
Revolutionary  annals  that  will  ever  be  honored. 
It  was  in  refinement  and  wealth  probably  then  the 
first  city  in  the  Union.  Here  had  met,  in  1774, 
the  first  Continental  Congress,,  assembled  even 
before  the  first  blow  was  struck  to  assert  the 
rights  of  the  colonies.  Here,  in  1775,  the  second 
Continental  Congress  had  determined  upon  armed 
resistance  to  the  arbitrary  encroachments  of  the 

15 


226      THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

Crown, and, upon  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  John  Adams, 
had,  on  the  15th  day  of  June  (two  days  only  before 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill),  chosen  one  of  its  own 
delegates,  George  Washington  of  Virginia,  to  be 
commander-in-chief  of  all  forces  raised  and  to  be 
raised  for  the  struggle.  Here  too,  a  year  later,  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1776,  adopting  for  the  first  time 
a  name  forever  illustrious,  and  terming  themselves 
no  longer  the  United  Colonies,  but  the  United 
States  of  America,  our  several  communities  had 
asserted  their  right  to  a  place  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth  and  their  full  and  complete  inde 
pendence  of  the  British  Crown.  From  Philadel 
phia,  also,  the  operations  of  the  war  had  been 
directed,  and  here,  except  for  a  brief  period, 
had  always  sat  the  Revolutionary  Congress. 
Here,  after  the  Articles  of  Confederation  had 
gone  into  effect  in  1781,  had  met  its  Congress, 
which  a  few  months  later  had  walked  in  solemn 
procession  to  one  of  the  churches,  to  return  thanks 
to  God  for  the  victory  over  Cornwallis,  which  it 
rightly  judged  was  to  terminate  the  war  ;  and  from 
here  the  instructions  for  a  definitive  treaty  of  peace 
and  independence  had  been  given,  which  on  the 
third  day  of  September,  1783,  was  signed  in  Paris 
by  the  minister  of  Great  Britain,  and  on  our  behalf 
by  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  John  Jay. 
But,  solemn  and  imposing  as  these  events  were, 
Philadelphia,  in  the  year  1787,  was  to  witness  one 
not  less  august  and  dignified.  It  was  the  session 
of  the  convention  which  ordained  the  Constitution 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      227 

of  the  United  States,  and  which,  assembling  on  the 
fourteenth  day  of  May,  signed  the  Constitution, 
and  commended  it  for  ratification  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States  on  the  17th  of  September,  1787. 
The  centennial  anniversary  of  the  signature  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  on  the  17th  of 
September  will  be  appropriately  celebrated  on  that 
day  during  the  present  year,  under  the  direction  of 
commissioners  from  the  several  States  and  a  com 
mittee  of  citizens  and  the  City  Government  of 
Philadelphia.  In  his  annual  message  to  the  Legis 
lature,  his  Excellency  the  Governor  of  Massa 
chusetts  recommended  that  provision  be  made  for 
assuring  on  this  occasion  a  representation  of  Massa 
chusetts,  in  a  manner  befitting  the  history  and 
character  of  this  commonwealth.  This  recommen 
dation,.  I  am  informed,  has  been  complied  with. 
Whether  it  shall  be  our  fortune  individually  to 
be  present  or  absent,  such  a  celebration  can 
not  but  awaken  the  profoundest  interest  in  this 
Association. 

To  overthrow  a  well-established  government  is 
not  an  easy  task.  Many  interests  of  property, 
many  sentiments  of  affection  cling  around  old 
institutions,  even  those  which  cannot  in  themselves 
be  commended.  It  is  a  far  more  difficult  task  out 
of  the  confusion  which  such  a  downfall  creates  to 
rear  the  structure  of  a  firm,  well-ordered  State. 
The  difficulties  which  the  American  States  would 
have  in  establishing  a  firm  government  when  the 
cohesive  pressure  of  war  was  withdrawn  were 


228      THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

obvious  from  the  first.  Their  relations  each  to  the 
other  and  to  foreign  governments  must  be  deter 
mined  and  regulated,  the  strength  and  power  of 
all  must  be  consolidated,  and  yet  to  each  must  be 
left  complete  control  of  affairs  within  its  own 
limits.  The  States  achieved  their  independence 
each  for  itself,  although  as  the  ally  of  others ;  yet 
to  have  existed  as  strictly  independent  States, 
bound  together  only  by  such  treaties  as  are  made 
between  sovereigns,  was  certainly  impossible.  The 
belief  that  a  stable  government  could  never  be 
established  by  us  was,  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
nearly  universal  in  Europe  ;  it  was  almost  the  only 
consolation  of  our  late  King  George  III.,  who 
always  took  very  much  to  heart  what  he  termed 
the  revolt  of  America.  There  was  a  feeling  even 
of  regret  in  Great  Britain  that  these  States  had 
ever  been  recognized  in  a  treaty  collectively,  and 
that  peace  had  not  been  made  with  each  indi 
vidually.  An  eminent  British  writer  scouted  the 
idea  that  America  could  ever  be  a  rising  empire,  as 
one  of  the  wildest  dreams  of  romance.  "The 
natural  antipathies  and  clashing  interests  of  the 
Americans,"  he  said, "  their  difference  of  govern 
ments,  habitudes,  and  manners,  indicate  that  they 
will  have  no  centre  of  union  and  no  common 
interest.  They  never  can  be  united  into  one  com 
pact  empire  under  any  form  of  government  what 
ever.  A  disunited  people  till  the  end  of  time, 
suspicious  and  distrustful  of  each  other,  they  will 
be  divided  and  subdivided  into  little  common- 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      229 

wealths  or  principalities,  according  to  natural 
boundaries,  by  great  bays  of  the  sea  and  by  vast 
rivers,  lakes,  and  ridges  of  mountains." 

Frederick  the  Great,  who  might  be  looked  upon 
as  a  disinterested  observer  of  the  conflict  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  subjects,  said  in  1782  that 
"  he  was  persuaded  that  the  American  Union  could 
not  long  subsist  under  its  present  form,"  and  held 
that  no  inference  could  be  drawn  in  favor  of  the 
American  colonies  from  the  States  of  Venice, 
Holland,  and  Switzerland,  whose  situation  and 
circumstances  were  entirely  different. 

The  gravity  of  the  problem  had  not  diminished 
in  the  years  that  had  intervened  since  the  treaty 
of  peace  in  1783.  On  the  contrary,  the  expe 
rience  of  those  years  showed  clearly  that,  de 
fective  as  the  government  of  the  Confederation 
was  in  time  of  war,  it  was  even  more  inadequate 
in  time  of  peace.  The  Contine'ntal  Congress  had 
no  defined  powers ;  it  boldly  seized  on  all  which  it 
could  enforce  either  by  will  and  energy  or  per 
suasion.  The  Congress  of  the  Confederation  came 
into  existence  only  in  time  to  take  part,  in  1781, 
in  the  last  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  It  was 
precisely  what  the  name  imports,  —  a  league  and 
alliance,  and  nothing  more.  If  it  could  incur 
debts,  it  could  provide  no  means  of  paying  them, 
for  the  revenue  must  be  raised  by  the  States  them 
selves.  It  could  provide  for  an  army ;  but  it  was 
for  the  States  to  furnish  the  money  and  the  men. 
The  Articles  of  Confederation  declared,  indeed,  that 


230  THE  BUNKER   HILL  MONUMENT. 

it  was  their  duty  to  do  this  ;  but  if  they  failed,  there 
were  no  means  of  coercion.  A  government  which 
controls  neither  purse  nor  sword,  it  is  needless  to 
say,  is  but  a  "mockery  king."  These  defects  were 
at  the  outset  so  readily  seen  that  Washington 
early  urged  that  there  must  be  a  power  to  compel 
the  States  to  comply  with  the  requisitions  made  on 
them  for  men  and  money,  and  expressed  his  fear 
that  "  after  gloriously  and  successfully  contending 
against  the  usurpations  of  Britain,  we  may  fall  a 
prey  to  our  own  follies  and  disputes." 

It  needed,  however,  the  experience  of  the  four 
years  that  followed  the  war  to  satisfy  the  people 
of  the  United  States  that  a  stronger  government 
must  be  established.  Reluctant  as  were  the  several 
States  to  yield  up  any  of  the  powers  which  they 
claimed  as  independent  States,  yet  if  there  was  to 
be  a  national  sovereignty,  while  it  might  be  one 
of  defined  and  limited  powers,  it  must  be  supreme 
within  those  powers,  capable  of  enforcing  its  own 
decrees  without  resort  to  any  agencies  but  its  own. 
The  States  of  the  Union  had  nearly  all  adopted 
written  constitutions  ;  that  of  Massachusetts,  which 
is  in  substantial  respects  the  same  as  that  under 
which  we  now  live,  had  been  established  by  a 
convention  called,  by  a  curious  coincidence,  on 
the  seventeenth  day  of  June,  1780.  It  is  the  work 
in  its  essential  parts  of  John  Adams ;  and  he 
claimed  with  .justice  that  in  making  it  he  aided  in 
making  that  of  the  United  States.  The  con 
stitutions  of  all  the  American  States  insist,  in 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      231 

opposition  to  the  concessions  made  by  monarchical 
governments,  that  all  power  resides  with  the 
people ;  that  it  is  because  the  people  have  granted 
the  right,  that  those  who  govern,  do  so  rightfully ; 
and  that  from  them  and  of  such  a  character  must 
be  the  grant  to  any  national  government. 

That  there  should  be  a  period  of  great  exhaustion 
after  a  war  like  that  for  independence  was  to  have 
been  expected.  But  it  was  now  seen  that  the  great 
want  was  of  a  definitely  settled  government,  com 
petent  to  make  war  and  peace,  to  make  treaties,  to 
regulate  commerce,  to  control  the  jealousies  be 
tween  the  States,  and  to  maintain  its  own  powers, 
while  it  sustained  a  republican  government  in  every 
State. 

Such  a  government  was  formed  by  the  convention 
which  one  hundred  years  ago  to-day  was  in  session 
at  Philadelphia.  While  the  weakness  and  defects 
of  the  Confederation  had  been  often  pointed  out ; 
while  the  bitter  controversies  almost  ready  to  break 
into  open  war  between  certain  of  the  States  were 
known  ;  while  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  public 
order  (never  more  conspicuously  broken  than  in  the 
Shays'  Rebellion  in  Massachusetts,  whose  conse 
quences  had  been  averted  only  by  the  courage  and 
prudence  of  Governor  Bowdoin)  had  been  recog 
nized,  —  it  was  by  the  invitation  of  Virginia  to 
the  other  States  that  this  great  convention  was 
summoned.  There  are  many  days  in  the  history 
of  that  ancient  commonwealth  worthy  of  honorable 
mention.  No  more  generous  act  was  ever  done 


232  THE  BUNKER   HILL  MONUMENT. 

than  her  surrender  to  all  the  States  of  her  claim  to 
the  vast  and  fertile  region  which  lay  between  her 
western  boundaries  and  the  Mississippi,  which 
passed  imder  the  great  Ordinance  of  1787,  which 
provided  that  there  should  be  neither  slavery  nor 
involuntary  servitude  therein.  Yet,  side  by  side 
with  this,  may  well  be  placed  her  frank,  bold,  clearly 
expressed  summons  to  her  sister  States  to  convene 
for  the  purpose  of  constructing  a  firm  and  united 
government.  u  The  general  assembly  of  this 
Commonwealth,"  she  said,  speaking  by  the  pen  of 
Madison,  "  can  no  longer  doubt  that  the  crisis  is 
arrived  at  which  the  people  of  America  are  to 
decide  the  solemn  question  whether  they  will,  by 
wise  and  magnanimous  action,  reap  the  fruit  of 
independence  and  union ;  or  whether,  by  giving 
way  to  unmanly  jealousies  and  prejudices,  or  to 
partial  and  transitory  interests,  they  will  renounce 
the  blessings  prepared  for  them  by  the  Revolution." 
The  convention  which  met  in  May,  1787,  had 
before  it  a  solemn  and  most  arduous  task,  in  view 
of  the  imminence  of  the  peril  and  of  its  conscious 
ness  of  the  dangers  of  disorder  and  anarchy  with 
which  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  sur 
rounded.  The  smaller  States  desired  a  govern 
ment  strictly  federal,  in  which  the  power  of  the 
States  should  be  equal.  The  system  of  slavery 
prevailed  throughout  the  Southern  States,  and  its 
existence  must  be  recognized.  It  had  substan 
tially  ceased  to  exist  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States,  although  it  had  distinctly  been  abolished  in 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      233 

only  one,  and  that  our  own  State  of  Massachu 
setts,  —  and  here  not  by  direct  words,  but  by  a 
judicial  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State,  rendered  at  Worcester  in  1783,  which  pro 
nounced  it  wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  State  adopted  two  years  before,  and 
especially  with  the  admirable  Bill  of  Rights  which 
forms  its  preamble.  Upon  this  case,  so  remark 
able  in  the  history  of  the  State,  Mr.  Justice  Gray, 
now  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
has  written  a  most  interesting  paper. 

It  was  necessary  yet  difficult  for  the  convention 
to  draw  a  proper  line  between  the  powers  of  a  na 
tional  government  and  those  of  the  several  States. 
It  is  obvious  that  whatever  objects  of  government 
were  confined  in  their  operation  and  effect  within 
the  boundaries  of  any  particular  State  should  be 
considered  as  belonging  to  the  government  of  that 
State ;  while  those  objects  of  government  which 
extended  in  their  operation  and  effects  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  any  individual  State  should  be  con 
sidered  as  belonging  to  the  Union.  But  a  prin 
ciple  easy  to  state  as  an  abstract  proposition  is 
often  far  from  easy  i  n  actual  application. 

It  was  early  seen  that  whatever  government 
was  created  must  emanate  directly  from  the  peo 
ple,  and  not  from  the  States  as  such,  in  order  that 
the  allegiance  of  every  citizen  should  be  due  alike 
to  the  Union  and  to  the  State  in  which  he  lived. 
It  must  have  the  power  of  raising  its  own  reve 
nues,  and  the  means  of  compelling  obedience  to 


234  THE  BUNKER   HILL   MONUMENT. 

its  own  lawful  decrees.  It  was  by  reason  of  the 
want  of  this  that  not  only  the  Confederation,  but 
all  other  purely  federative  systems  historically 
known  to  us,  have  failed  to  create  a  strong  and 
effective  nationality  ;  it  is  because  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  had  this  power  that  it 
has  made  of  us  collectively  a  people  and  a  nation. 

It  is  not  my  intention,  of  course,  here  to  re 
call  the  various  alternations  of  hope  and  anxiety 
through  which  the  convention  passed  during  the 
four  months  of  its  session.  Indeed,  it  is  somewhat 
hard  for  any  one  to  do  this.  Its  history  is  gathered 
only  from  the  faithful  memoranda  of  Mr.  Madi 
son,  the  known  opinions  of  its  members,  and  their 
subsequent  recollections.  No  formal  record  of  its 
debates  was  kept ;  the  era  of  reporting  had  not 
come.  It  sat,  indeed,  with  closed  doors ;  but  as 
against  the  omnipresent  reporter  of  the  present 
day,  closed  doors,  as  you  well  know,  are  but  feeble 
barriers. 

Yet  I  would  willingly,  if  I  might,  roll  back  the 
mists  of  the  century  that  lies  between  us,  and  look 
upon  the  faces  of  two  or  three  of  the  chief  actors 
in  this  great  historic  transaction,  as  they  sat  in 
the  modest  hall  where  were  gathered  the  states 
men  of  the  Revolution,  anxious  to  preserve  by  a 
definite  organization  all  that  its  soldiers  had  won. 

Washington,  soldier  and  statesman  alike,  was 
its  presiding  officer.  No  man  realized  more  fully 
than  he  the  weakness  of  the  Confederation  under 
which  we  had  been  living ;  for  with  all  the  aid  it 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      235 

had  been  able  to  afford  him,  his  struggles  to  keep 
his  little  army  in  the  field  had  been  almost  des 
perate.  All  his  experience  and  all  his  observation 
had  convinced  him  that  obedience  to  the  orders  of 
a  general  government  could  not  be  expected,  un 
less  it  was  provided  with  the  means  of  enforcing 
them.  For  the  position  of  president  of  the  con 
vention  he  was  exactly  constituted.  While  he  had 
studied  and  meditated  long  on  the  great  problems 
of  government ;  while  he  spoke  well  and  forcibly 
after  careful  preparation,  for  he  was  not  a  debater, 
nor  adapted  to  the  controversies  of  the  floor, — 
his  wisdom,  his  moderation,  his  calm  dignity, 
fitted  him  admirably  to  direct  the  current  of  the 
debate ;  and  his  exalted  character,  his  unexampled 
services,  and  the  universal  and  profound  respect 
felt  for  him  in  the  country  rendered  his  presence 
and  countenance  necessary  in  this  attempt  to 
establish  a  government. 

That,  after  Washington,  to  two  men  more  than 
to  any  others  (and  large  as  the  services  of  others 
were)  we  are  indebted  for  the  formation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  generally  con 
ceded.  These  were  James  Madison  and  Alexander 
Hamilton.  Destined  to  be  politically  divided  later 
in  life,  they  were,  in  this  work,  which  bears 
throughout  the  indelible  marks  of  the  hand  of 
each,  cordially  united.  The  very  difference  in  the 
opinions  they  held  contributed  to  the  perfection  of 
their  work.  It  was  for  them  also,  when  at  a  sub 
sequent  period  the  Constitution  was  submitted  for 


236  THE   BUNKER   HILL   MONUMENT. 

ratification,  to  defend  it  in  all  its  parts  before  the 
people  of  their  respective  States,  and  especially 
before  the  people  of  all  the  States,  in  a  series  of 
essays  known  as  the  "  Federalist/'  of  which  about 
three  quarters  were  written  by  Mr.  Hamilton  and 
one  quarter  by  Mr.  Madison.  They  are  quoted  still, 
whenever  a  constitutional  question  is  discussed,  as 
giving  its  contemporaneous  construction. 

Mr.  Madison  was  strictly  a  civilian  and  publi 
cist.  He  had  entered  the  Continental  Congress 
near  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1780,  with  a  repu 
tation  which  had  not  then  extended  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  his  native  State  ;  but  it  had  not 
required  the  experience  of  either  the  Continental 
Congress,  or  of  the  congresses  of  the  Confederation 
which  followed,  to  develop  him  into  a  national 
statesman.  Although  not  coming  from  a  commer 
cial  State,  he  had  from  the  first  seen  the  necessity 
of  so  enlarging  the  powers  of  Congress  that  it 
should  control  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  coun 
try.  He  was  nowr  nearly  forty  years  of  age,  and 
in  the  full  ripeness  of  his  powers.  Possessed  of  a 
sufficient  fortune,  his  patriotism  and  his  taste  had 
caused  him  to  devote  his  life  to  the  public  and  to 
the  great  questions  which  were  then  pressing  upon 
it.  His  grasp  of  such  questions  was  firm  and 
strong,  and  no  man  was  ever  more  sincerely 
desirous  of  the  good  of  the  whole  country.  His 
industry  was  extraordinary,  surpassing  that  of 
any  of  our  statesmen,  unless  it  be  Mr.  John 
Quincy  Adams.  His  powTers  of  debate  were  great, 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      237 

and  he  had  full  command  of  all  his  resources  when 
he  was  on  his  feet,  —  "  never  wandering  from  his 
subject,"  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  into  vain  declama 
tion,  but  pursuing  it  closely  in  language  pure, 
classical,  and  copious,  and  soothing  always  the 
feelings  of  his  adversaries  by  civilities  and  softness 
of  expression."  These  powers  enabled  him  after 
wards,  when  the  question  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  was  discussed  before  the  people  of 
Virginia,  successfully  to  encounter  even  the  fervid 
declamation  of  the  great  orator  of  the  Revolution, 
Patrick  Henry. 

Yet  that  no  man  in  that  great  convention  stood 
above  Alexander  Hamilton  must  be  admitted  by 
all ;  and  it  would  not  be  worth  while  now  to  con 
sider  whether  he  might  not  properly  be  assigned 
distinctively  the  first  place.  He  had,  in  the  words 
of  Washington,  "  all  the  qualities  essential  to  a 
great  military  character ; "  but  he  united  with 
these  the  strongest  ability  as  a  jurist  and  the 
widest  capacity  as  a  statesman.  He  was  at  this 
time  but  thirty  years  of  age.  In  the  early  matu 
rity  of  his  powers  there  is  but  one  statesman  of 
the  British  race  known  to  us  who  can  compare 
with  him.  It  is  the  second  William  Pitt,  who  was 
prime  minister  of  England  at  twenty-four  years 
of  age.  The  political  life  of  Hamilton  may  be 
said  to  have  begun  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  At 
that  time,  in  1774,  while  a  student  in  college,  he 
had  written  a  series  of  essays  in  answer  to  the 
Tory  pamphlets  of  the  day,  which  produced  upon 


238  THE   BUNKER   HILL  MONUMENT. 

the  public  mind  the  strongest  impression,  and 
which  evinced  a  grasp  of  the  whole  controversy 
and  a  vigor  of  thought  well  worthy  of  any  states 
man.  Before  he  was  nineteen  years  old  he  be 
came  a  captain  of  artillery  in  the  Continental 
Army  ;  and  when  only  twenty  years  of  age,  in 
1777,  he  was  selected  by  Washington  as  one  of 
his  aids,  serving  with  him  in  that  capacity  until 
1782,  when  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Congress  of 
the  Confederation.  During  these  years  of  military 
service  he  wrote  much  on  the  financial  condition 
of  the  country,  the  defects  of  the  government,  and 
the  want  of  a  real  executive  power.  He  was  early 
impressed,  while  a  young  man  of  twenty-three, 
with  the  necessity  of  a  national  system  of  credit, 
finance,  and  government,  and  by  pointing  this  out, 
led  the  way  to  our  ]ater  Union.  In  the  Conven 
tion  of  1787  he  was  the  champion  of  Nationalism ; 
nor  did  this  in  any  way  seem  to  him  inconsistent 
with  the  just  powers  and  duties  of  the  States, 
whose  expanding  glories  he  delighted  to  point  out, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  Union  as  the  guardian  and 
the  security  of  them  all.  He  loved  liberty  in 
tensely,  but  it  seemed  to  him  that  it  could  be 
preserved  only  in  a  permanent  and  settled  govern 
ment.  The  charge  —  for  it  is  hardly  less  —  that 
has  been  sometimes  imputed  to  him,  that  he  de 
sired  a  monarchical  government,  has  long  since 
been  refuted.  He  knew  America  thoroughly,  and 
the  tone  and  temper  of  its  people  as  it  had  been 
developed  in  the  years  since  1774,  and  that  no 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      239 

such  government  was  desirable  or  even  possible. 
But  he  did  believe  in  a  republic  fully  competent  to 
assert  itself  :  if  it  could  not  have  strength  and 
stability,  "  it  would  be,"  in  his  own  words,  "  dis 
graced  and  lost  to  ourselves ;  disgraced  and  lost 
to  mankind  forever."  He  doubted,  when  the  work 
was  done,  whether  the  government  was  sufficiently 
strong,  although  he  cordially  accepted  it  AS  the 
best  that  was  practicable.  But  he  had  builded 
better  than  he  knew.  To  him  and  to  those  na 
tional  statesmen,  like  Mr.  Webster,  who  followed 
him,  that  political  faith  is  due  which  has  since 
carried  the  nation  triumphantly  through  its 
struggle  for  existence. 

It  was  the  sad  fate  of  Mr.  Hamilton  to  die  in 
early  middle  life,  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  splen 
did  powers  arid  with  years  of  usefulness  and  of 
noble  fame  before  him,  —  a  victim  to  the  false  code 
of  honor  which  still  asserted  its  sway.  It  was  the 
happy  lot  of  Mr.  Madison,  after  years  of  honorable 
service  as  the  Secretary  of  State  and  President  of 
the  Kepublic  he  had  aided  to  create,  to  live  to  an 
advanced  age,  when  party  feelings  had  long  been 
forgotten,  and  when  a  whole  people  did  honor  to 
his  exalted  patriotism,  his  high  services,  his  pure 
and  noble  character.  But  their  names  are  forever 
associated  each  with  the  other  in  the  great  instru 
ment  which  their  combined  genius,  wisdom,  and 
noble  purposes  did  so  much  to  create. 

If  I  have  mentioned  their  names  individually,  -I 
have  not  forgotten  the  great  men  with  whom  they 


240      THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

were  associated.  No  body  of  men  ever  assembled 
with  higher  or  more  disinterested  objects,  more 
ready  to  concede  to  the  just  claims  of  others,  more 
conscious  of  the  great  trusts  imposed  upon  them. 
Many  of  them  had  borne  nobly  their  part,  whether 
in  civil  or  military  life,  in  the  scenes  of  the  Ke vo 
lution.  The  great  experiment  made  when  the 
States  renounced  the  authority  of  the  British 
Crown,  they  knew  had  now  come  to  its  final 
test.  Liberty  had  been  won  ;  but  now  there  must 
be  union,  or  the  only  liberty  worth  having  —  that 
which  is  embodied  in  free  institutions,  and  guarded 
and  protected  by  law  —  would  itself  be  lost.  It 
was  on  the  17th  of  September,  one  hundred  years 
ago,  that  the  convention  completed  its  work.  Its 
difficulties  had  been  great ;  New  York  had  retired 
by  a  majority  of  its  delegates,  and  left  Hamilton 
alone.  While  he  doubted  as  to  some  of  the  features 
of  the  Constitution,  as  a  whole  he  had  supported 
it  with  his  strong  logical  reasoning  and  his  noble 
eloquence,  and  he  remained  to  give  to  its  recom 
mendation  at  least  his  individual  name. 

Its  signature  was  an  act  of  grave  importance,  not 
unworthy  to  be  coir: pared  with  that  of  the  Declara 
tion.  Whether  it  would  be  ratified  by  the  people  of 
the  several  States  was  uncertain,  and  if  it  was  not, 
the  dangers  of  the  situation  were  far  from  imagi 
nary.  Washington,  as  he  signed  his  name,  expressed 
his  fears  that  if  the  people  should  reject  this  Con 
stitution,  the  opportunity  would  never  again  offer 
to  cancel  another  in  peace.  To  Hamilton,  "  the 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      241 

establishment  of  a  constitution  in  a  time  of  pro 
found  peace  by  a  voluntary  consent  of  a  whole 
people,  seemed,"  as  he  says,  "  a  prodigy  to  which 
he  looked  forward  with  trembling  anxiety." 

Mr.  Madison  preserves  an  anecdote  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  however,  which  on  his  part  shows  a 
more  hopeful  spirit.  The  genial  old  man  was  now 
eighty-two  years  of  age,  and  had  taken  his  full 
share  in  the  labors  of  the  Convention  ;  as  the  last 
members  were  signing,  he  looked  towards  the  back 
of  the  President's  chair,  where  the  representation 
of  a  sun  was  painted,  and  remarked  that  painters 
in  their  art  had  often  found  it  difficult  to  distin 
guish  between  a  rising  and  a  setting  sun.  "  I 
have,"  said  he,  "  often  and  often,  in  the  course  of 
the  session  and  the  vicissitudes  of  my  hopes  and 
fears  as  to  the  issue,  looked  at  that  behind  the 
President  without  being  able  to  tell  whether  it  was 
rising  or  setting  ;  but  now  at  length  I  have  the 
happiness  to  know  it  is  a  rising  and  not  a  set 
ting  sun." 

So  rose,  on  that  September  day,  the  sun  of  a 
great,  free,  well-ordered  government.  It  rose  above 
three  millions  of  people  and  thirteen  States  that 
fringed  the  Atlantic  coast.  It  shines  to-day  above 
sixty  millions  of  people,  and  over  an  imperial  Union 
whose  gateways  are  on  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific 
seas,  and  which  has  bound  together,  as  with  a 
golden  cord,  thirty-eight  States  and  nine  Terri 
tories.  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States," 
says  Mr.  Gladstone  in  substance  (I  do  not  quote 

16 


242  THE    BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

his  exact  words),  "  is  the  most  wonderful  instru 
ment  of  government  ever  constructed  in  a  definite 
time  by  the  hand  of  man."  In  the  largest  measure 
it  has  fulfilled  for  us  all  its  great  objects.  It  has, 
formed  a  more  perfect  Union,  established  justice, 
insured  domestic  tranquillity,  provided  for  the  com 
mon  defence,  and  secured  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity.  The  ultimate  justifi 
cation  of  every  revolution  must  be  found  in  the 
ability  to  construct  a  better  government  than  that 
which  is  overthrown.  It  is  the  government  which 
the  convention  of  1787  created  which  justifies  the 
Revolution.  Deeds  become  great  by  the  conse 
quences  which  follow  them. 

We  meet  to-day  to  commemorate  a  battle  indeed, 
but  it  is  the  civic  consequences  which  followed, 
that  have  made  it  renowned.  It  is  the  step  that 
was  then  taken,  in  the  assertion  of  the  great  prin 
ciple  that  all  power  comes  from  the  people,  that 
it  is  the  right  of  each  nation  to  govern  itself 
through  such  free  institutions  as  it  may  designate, 
and  it  is  the  successful  demonstration  of  that  prin 
ciple  in  the  establishment  of  the  Constitution  under 
which  we  have  lived  and  prospered  for  an  hundred 
years,  which  render  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill 
worthy  of  eternal  memory.  If  the  tranquillity 
which  the  Constitution  sought  to  insure  has  once 
been  broken  by  a  great  civil  strife,  let  us  rejoice  that 
its  fiercer  utterances  have  long  since  died  away ; 
that  the  Constitution  has  shown  its  full  capacity  to 
vindicate  itself  in  a  tempest  wilder  than  its  framers 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      243 

could  ever  have  foreboded  even  in  their  most  anxious 
and  despondent  hours,  and  that  all  now  acknowl 
edge  its  firm  hut  genial  and  beneficent  sway.  Had 
these  things  been  otherwise ;  had  it  been  found  im 
possible  in  1787  to  frame  a  government ;  had  civil 
commotions,  whose  dark  shadow  was  already  above 
us,  followed,  —  such  as  have  more  than  once  de 
stroyed  the  liberties  of  republics  and  induced  the 
friends  of  peace  and  order  to  take  refuge  even 
under  arbitrary  power,  —  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill 
would  have  been  remembered  indeed  as  a  field  of 
magnificent  valor  and  courage,  where  a  few  hun 
dred  New  England  yeomanry  had  encountered  and 
again  and  again  hurled  back  the  resolute  assaults 
of  the  best  soldiers  of  Europe ;  but  only  thus,  and 
not,  as  now,  as  a  distinct  mark  in  the  history  of 
civilization  and  of  the  progress  of  liberty. 

Tenderly  and  respectfully,  then,  I  am  sure,  gen 
tlemen,  we  all  recall  that  great  convention  which 
was  sitting  in  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of  1787  ; 
and  we  shall  unite  in  grateful  sympathy  with  every 
celebration  by  which  honor  is  sought  to  be  done  to 
its  great  and  crowning  act. 

1888. 

Our  society,  gentlemen,  connects  itself  so  closely 
with  the  whole  history  of  the  Revolutionary  era, 
that  if  I  have  not  already  exhausted  your  patience, 
I  am  tempted  to  call  your  attention  to  two  events 
of  interest  which  this  year  have  reached  their 
centennial  anniversary. 


244  THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

The  settlement  of  the  Northwest  Territory, 
which  now  contains  the  great  and  powerful  States 
of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin, 
began  on  the  arrival  at  Marietta  of  the  colony 
which  was  led  by  General  Rufus  Putnam,  April  7, 
1788.  It  was  commemorated  there  last  April  by 
an  oration  from  Senator  Hoar,  and  addresses  from 
many  distinguished  gentlemen,  especially  one  from 
Hon.  J.  Randolph  Tucker  of  Virginia.  This  expedi 
tion  was  the  result  of  a  meeting  in  Boston,  at  the 
Bunch  of  Grapes  Tavern,  on  March  1, 1786,  whose 
call  was  especially  addressed  to  all  officers  and  sol 
diers  of  the  late  war  who  might  wish  to  become  pur 
chasers  of  lands  in  the  Ohio  country.  It  was  to  be 
led  by  General  Rufus  Putnam,  of  Massachusetts ; 
and  it  was  determined  that  those  only  should  go 
who  were  men  of  some  means,  of  character,  and  who 
intended  to  become  actual  residents  of  the  new 
country.  The  State  of  Virginia,  with  unexampled 
generosity,  had  surrendered  her  claim  to  this  vast 
and  fertile  region  to  the  Congress  of  the  Confed 
eration.  The  scheme  for  the  settlement  of  it  occu 
pied  a  very  near  place  in  Washington's  heart.  He 
was  the  counsellor  and  friend  of  General  Putnam 
at  eveiy  stage  of  its  progress.  Yet  while  they 
were  willing  to  purchase  the  lands  they  desired  for 
the  Ohio  Company,  as  it  was  called,  those  who  con 
trolled  the  plan  in  Massachusetts  felt  that  there 
must  be  guaranteed  to  them  civil  and  religious 
liberty  in  their  new  homes,  and  that  slavery  should 
not  exist  therein.  While  Putnam  was  to  superin- 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      245 

tend  the  expedition,  Dr.  Mana,-seh  Cutler  was  the 
envoy  to  Congress  to  settle  definitely  these  im 
portant  points.  The  Ordinance  of  1787  was  the 
last  great  act  of  that  Congress  so  soon  to  pass 
away,  and  it  crowned  its  long  and  checkered  career 
with  glorious  light.  By  that  ordinance  neither 
slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  was  ever  to  exist 
in  the  States  to  be  formed  from  the  Northwest  Ter 
ritory.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  in  this 
great  act  the  representatives  of  Virginia  concurred 
with  those  of  Massachusetts,  as  it  passed  with  the 
objection  of  but  a  single  vote.  I  intend,  of  course, 
but  a  passing  allusion  to  this  great  event  ;  but  to 
us  it  is  of  profound  interest  in  many  ways.  To 
quote  a  remark  of  Mr.  George  W.  Curtis,  although 
not  with  verbal  accuracy,  no  body  of  men  have 
ever  impressed  themselves  on  a  whole  nation  as 
the  Puritan  founders  of  New  England.  This  colony 
was  the  first  swarm  from  the  New  England  hive. 
It  finally  embraced  nearly  fifty  officers  of  the  Revo 
lutionary  Army  ;  it  was  led  by  one  of  the  best  men 
that  Massachusetts  ever  produced.  He  wras  a  lieu 
tenant-colonel  in  a  Worcester  County  regiment  on 
the  day  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  became 
an  engineer  of  the  American  Army  on  the  arrival 
of  Washington.  He  planned  and  executed  the  last 
works  on  Dorchester  Heights,  by  which  General 
Howe  was  compelled  either  to  fight  or  to  fly.  Al 
though  mainly  self-taught,  he  was  a  natural  mathe 
matician,  and  in  a  letter  to  Congress  Washington 
said  of  him  that  he  was  the  best  engineer,  French 


246  THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

or  American,  that  the  army  ever  had.  He  was  of 
the  near  kindred,  a  cousin,  of  General  Israel  Put 
nam,  with  whom  he  is  often  confounded.  Fort 
Putnam  and  the  remains  of  the  fortifications  which 
still  exist  at  West  Point  were  constructed  by  him, 
as  a  part  of  the  plan  for  the  capture  of  Burgoyne, 
by  preventing  his  junction  with  the  British  troops 
at  New  York.  These  are  often  erroneously  sup 
posed  to  have  been  the  work  of  General  Israel  Put 
nam,  whose  abilities  were  rather  those  of  courage 
and  action  in  the  field.  The  confusion,  however, 
is  very  natural,  as  General  Israel  Putnam  actually 
commanded  the  troops  at  that  part  of  the  Hudson 
River,  and  in  a  certain  sense,  there  directed  the 
works. 

But  the  profoundest  interest  in  this  colony  still 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  went  forth  to  make  of  the 
principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  living  realities,  and  that 
millions  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  liberty  and  pros 
perity  to  bless  its  founders  for  their  noble  enter 
prise.  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  —  I  use  the 
words  of  Senator  Hoar — "  may  well  clasp  each 
other's  hands  anew  as  they  survey  the  glory  of 
their  work.  These  two  States,  the  two  oldest  of 
the  sisterhood,  —  the  State  which  framed  the  first 
written  constitution,  and  the  State  whose  founders 
framed  the  compact  on  the  "Mayflower;"  the 
State  which  produced  Washington,  and  the  State 
which  summoned  him  to  his  high  command  ;  the 
State  whose  son  drafted  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.  247 

dence,  and  the  State  which  furnished  its  leading  ad 
vocate  on  the  floor ;  the  mother  of  John  Marshall, 
and  the  mother  of  the  President  who  appointed  him  ; 
the  State  which  gave  the  general,  and  the  State 
which  furnished  the  largest  number  of  soldiers,  to 
the  Revolution  ;  the  State  which  gave  the  terri 
tory  of  the  Northwest,  and  the  State  which  gave 
its  first  settlers.  —  may  well  delight  to  remember 
that  they  share  between  them  the  honor  of  the 
authorship  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  .  .  .  The 
estrangements  of  four  years  have  not  obliterated  the 
common  and  tender  memories  of  two  centuries." 

The  centennial  anniversary  of  the  other  event 
to  which  I  would  allude  is  to  be  celebrated  this 
week  in  Concord,  N.  H.,  by  an  address  before  the 
Historical  Society  and  the  citizens.  Simple  as  I 
understand  the  ceremony  is  to  be,  the  act  com 
memorated  is  one  of  the  highest  magnitude.  We 
spoke  at  our  last  meeting  of  the  convention  to 
form  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which 
was  in  session  a  hundred  years  before  in  Philadel 
phia.  As  recommended  to  the  people,  it  wras  pro 
vided  that  it  should  go  into  full  effect  when  it  had 
received  the  assent  of  nine  of  the  thirteen  States, 
and  to  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  was  in 
trusted,  as  its  last  duty,  that  of  then  setting  in  opera 
tion  the  new  government.  The  year  that  followed 
was  one  of  immense  anxiety.  The  Constitution  was 
in  fact,  as  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams  has  said,  "  ex 
torted  from  the  grinding  necessities  of  unwilling 
States."  To  us  who  have  known  no  other  govern- 


248      THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

merit  than  this ;  who  have  seen  in  how  large 
measure  it  has  fulfilled  the  noble  words  of  the 
preamble,  which  declare  that  it  is  ordained  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States  "  in  order  to  form  a 
more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domes 
tic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence, 
promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  bless 
ings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity," — it 
is  somewhat  difficult  to  understand  the  serious  op 
position  it  encountered.  The  causes  of  it  are  not, 
however,  far  to  seek.  It  involved  the  relinquish- 
nient  of  some  of  their  own  highest  powers  of  gov 
ernment  by  the  States,  and  the  consequent  fear  that 
those  thus  relinquished  might  be  used  disadvan- 
tageously  to  them.  The  small  States  were  appre 
hensive  of  being  crushed  by  the  larger,  while  the 
latter  felt  that  too  much  power  had  been  conceded 
to  the  former.  The  system  of  slavery,  from  its 
very  nature  demanding  peculiar  guaranties,  had 
strong  influence  in  some,  although  not  all,  the  slave- 
holding  States.  Nor  had  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  been  preceded  by  a  bill  or  declaration 
of  rights,  such  as  then  and  now  precedes  the  Con 
stitution  of  Massachusetts,  and  such  as  were  in 
existence  in  most  of  the  other  States  of  the  Union. 
Such  a  declaration,  asserting  the  equal  rights  of 
all  before  the  law,  —  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the 
press,  freedom  of  conscience  in  religious  matters, 
freedom  of  elections,  security  against  unreasonable 
searches  and  seizures  or  excessive  fines  or  punish 
ments,  trial  by  jury  in  civil  and  criminal  cases,  the 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      249 

protection  of  property  against  public  use  except  on 
full  compensation,  the  independence  of  the  judi 
ciary,  —  would  have  comprehended  only  the  great 
principles  of  English  liberty  as  we  had  always 
asserted  them.  It  was  said  in  the  convention  that 
this  was  unnecessary  ;  that  the  government  to  be 
formed  was  one  of  limited  powers  ;  that  these  prin 
ciples  were  applicable  to  the  relation  between  the 
States  and  their  immediate  citizens  ;  and  that  so  far 
as  they  were  appropriate  to  the  general  govern 
ment  they  were  necessarily  implied.  Whatever 
may  be  the  logical  merit  of  this  answer,  and  it  cer 
tainly  has  some,  it  did  not  take  into  account  the 
natural  feeling  of  a  people  proud  of  their  liberty, 
who  had  endured  great  sacrifices  to  maintain  it, 
and  who  were  jealous  of  surrendering  the  power 
they  possessed  into  other  hands  without  ample 
security  against  its  abuse.  It  was  therefore  one  of 
the  few  mistakes  made  by  the  convention,  that 
it  had  not  accompanied  the  Constitution  with  a 
solemn  assertion  of  the  great  principles  of  liberty 
which  formed  its  groundwork.  All  these  are  found 
in  the  first  ten  amendments  to  the  Constitution, 
passed  in  pursuance  of  its  provisions,  and  so  nearly 
contemporaneously  with  it  as  to  be  treated  now 
almost  as  an  original  part.  They  were  all  pro 
posed  at  the  first  session  of  the  First  Congress. 

As  the  Constitution  was  to  be  operative  on  all 
the  people,  it  was  determined  by  the  convention 
that  it  must  be  adopted  by  the  people  themselves 
in  each  State,  acting  through  conventions  specially 


250  THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

called  for  the  purpose  by  the  legislatures  of  their 
respective  States.  Although  the  convention  of 
Pennsylvania,  at  the  instance  of  Franklin,  who  was 
the  President,  as  he  was  termed,  of  the  State,  and 
who  thus  rendered  his  last  great  public  service,  was 
called  previously  to  that  of  Delaware,  the  latter 
has  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  accept  the  Con 
stitution,  which  it  did  on  the  6th  day  of  December, 
1787,  at  a  convention  in  Dover  in  that  State,  and 
by  a  unanimous  vote.  Nor  does  the  language  used 
want  anything  in  explicitness,  for  the  record  says, 
"  The  deputies  of  the  Delaware  State  fully,  freely, 
and  entirely  approved  of,  assented  to,  ratified,  and 
confirmed  the  Federal  Constitution,"  and  on  the 
next  day  each  delegate  subscribed  his  name.  It  was 
in  the  debate  in  the  convention  of  Pennsylvania 
that  the  objection  to  the  Constitution  arising  from 
the  fact  that  it  was  not  prefaced  by  a  bill  of  rights 
first  became  manifest.  But,  excited  by  the  example 
of  Delaware,  the  Federalists  (of  course  I  use  the 
word  as  it  was  then  used,  indicating  supporters  of 
the  Constitution,  and  not  as  afterwards  used,  when 
it  designated  a  great  political  part}')  determined 
to  press  the  matter  to  a  close  ;  and  on  the  12th 
of  December,  1787,  by  a  vote  of  two  to  one,  the 
Constitution  was  adopted,  Pennsylvania  thus  prov 
ing  herself  worthy  of  the  name  she  has  sometimes 
received,  as  the  keystone  of  the  American  arch. 
New  Jersey  followed  by  a  unanimous  vote  on  the 
18th  of  December;  and  thus  the  three  central 
States  of  the  Union  formed  a  pillar  of  strength  in 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      251 

all  the  subsequent  controversy.  On  the  2d  of 
January,  1788,  Georgia  unanimously  ratified  the 
Constitution  in  convention  at  Augusta ;  and  Con 
necticut  on  the  9th  of  January,  at  Hartford,  fol 
lowed  her  example  by  a  majority  of  three  to  one. 

Much  anxiety  was  now  felt  as  to  the  action  of 
the  convention  in  Massachusetts,  which  was  to  as 
semble  on  the  same  day  as  that  on  which  the  con 
vention  in  Connecticut  finished  its  work.  It  was 
known  that  there  was  a  strong  party  in  Massachu 
setts  opposed  to  the  Constitution,  and  her  example 
might  be  decisive  of  the  project.  *  Madison  and 
Hamilton,  in  their  respective  States  of  Virginia  and 
New  York,  were  bending  every  energy  to  complete 
the  work  the  inception  of  which  they  had  so  nobly 
aided,  and  were  encountering  strong  and  powerful 
opposition  from  men  who  represented  much  of  the 
wealth  and  the  talent  of  those  States.  Reinforced 
by  the  example  of  Massachusetts,  they  might  hope 
each  to  conclude  the  struggle  successfully.  John 
Hancock,  then  the  Governor  of  the  commonwealth, 
was  chosen  President  of  the  convention,  and  from 
the  first  the  Federalists  adopted  the  plan  of  treating 
their  opponents  with  great  deference  and  courtesy. 
It  was  found  that  in  all  the  commercial  and  sea 
shore  towns,  and  especially  in  Boston,  there  was  a 
strong  feeling  in  favor  of  the  Constitution.  The 
rural  population  was  less  inclined  to  it.  Samuel 
Adams  was  supposed  to  be  less  favorably  disposed 
than  most  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  State  ; 
but  the  strong  attitude  taken  by  the  mechanics 


252  THE   BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

of  Boston,  who  had  always  been  his  supporters, 
had  its  influence  upon  him.  The  objection  most 
strongly  pressed  was  the  want  of  a-  distinct  bill 
of  rights  and  privileges.  This  was  finally  met 
with  adroitness,  but  entire  fairness.  While  the 
ratification  must  be  positive  and  explicit ;  while 
to  have  annexed  any  condition  would  have  de 
prived  it  of  any  force,  —  it  was  competent,  while 
accepting  the  Constitution  fully,  freely,  and  as 
it  was  written,  to  recommend  that  certain  amend 
ments  should  be  subsequently  adopted.  Hancock, 
who  had  been  kept  from  the  chair  by  the  gout,  on 
the  olst  of  January  took  his  place  and  proposed 
this  plan.  He  suggested  nine  several  amendments 
to  be  recommended,  while  the  ratification  by  the 
State  should  be  unqualified.  These  were  drawn 
with  great  clearness  and  force,  and  are  under 
stood  to  have  been  the  workmanship  of  Theophilus 
Parsons,  afterwards  Chief -Justice  of  Massachusetts. 
The  most  important  of  them  is  found  in  what  is 
now  the  tenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
which  declares  :  "  All  powers  not  delegated  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited 
by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  re 
spectively,  or  to  the  people."  The  skilful  plan 
thus  proposed  was  acceded  to  ;  and  on  the  6th  of 
February  the  motion  to  ratify  the  Constitution  was 
passed  by  a  vote  of  187  to  168.  With  this  every 
symptom  of  unpleasant  opposition  here  vanished. 
Massachusetts  was  the  sixth  State  to  ratify  the 
Constitution.  The  bells  were  rung  and  cannon 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      253 

fired  in  every  part  of  the  town,  while  as  night 
approached,  bonfires  illuminated  the  scene.  The 
Long  Lane,  as  it  was  called,  upon  which  stood  the 
meeting-house  where  the  convention  met,  had  its 
name  changed  by  common  consent  to  Federal  Street, 
which  it  bears  to-day.  "  The  Boston  people,"  Gen- 
ral  Knox  wrote  to  Chancellor  Livingston,  "  have 
lost  their  senses  with  joy." 

The  centennial  of  this  interesting  day  was  cele 
brated  last  February  in  the  hall  where  we  are  now 
gathered,  by  a  most  appropriate  address  from  the 
accomplished  President  of  the  Society  whose  hospi 
tality  we  are  now  enjoying;  and  if  they  made  some 
what  less  noise  than  their  ancestors,  yet  those  who 
were  privileged  to  participate  met,  I  trust,  with  no 
less  grateful  hearts. 

Maryland  ratified  the  Constitution  on  April  25, 
1788,  by  a  majority  of  six  to  one,  and  on  May  23, 
South  Carolina  did  the  same  by  a  majority  of  more 
than  two  to  one  ;  each  State,  like  Massachusetts, 
suggesting  amendments,  but  making  its  ratifica 
tion  unconditional. 

Eight  States  had  now  given  their  assent,  and 
but  one  more  was  needed  to  make  nine,  which 
would  complete  the  government.  From  that  time, 
whether  other  States  came  in  or  stayed  out,  the 
experiment  would  be  tried,  and  the  position  of  all 
the  hesitating  States  would  necessarily  change. 
The  conventions  of  New  York  and  Virginia  were 
in  session,  and  debate  in  each  was  high  and  hot, 
when,  exactly  a  hundred  years  ago  to-day,  on  the 


254  THE   BUNKER   HILL   MONUMENT. 

18th  of  June,  1787,  the  convention  of  New  Hamp 
shire  met  at  Concord,  by  adjournment  from  Exeter, 
in  that  State.  Of  this  convention  Mr.  Ebenezer 
Webster,  the  father  of  Daniel  Webster,  was  a 
member.  How  New  Hampshire  should  decide 
was  a  matter  of  supreme  importance  ;  for  if  she 
favored  the  Union,  and  its  government  was  in 
augurated,  New  York  and  Virginia  would  have  to 
face  a  formidable  problem  in  confronting  such  a 
government.  A  system  of  express  riders  had  been 
arranged  between  Hamilton  and  some  of  the  leading 
Federalists  of  New  England,  including  Rufus  King 
and  General  Knox,  to  which  General  Sullivan,  the 
President  of  the  New  Hampshire  convention,  was 
without  doubt  a  party,  that  Hamilton  should  have 
the  earliest  intelligence  at  Poughkeepsie,  where  the 
convention  of  New  York  was  in  session,  while  he 
in  turn  would  despatch  it  to  Madison,  at  Richmond, 
by  another  system  of  riders.  The  post  travelled 
then  only  about  fifty  miles  a  day,  and  for  that  he 
could  not  wait.  Every  moment  was  precious.  On 
the  21st  day  of  June,  1788,  after  a  session  of  only 
four  days,  the  convention  of  New  Hampshire  rati 
fied  the  Constitution,  and  the  new  government  was 
thenceforth  a  fixed  and  settled  fact.  The  record 
states  that  the  vote  was  taken  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  thus  par 
ticular  in  order  that  if  Virginia  voted  the  same 
day,  she  should  not  dispute  with  New  Hampshire 
the  honor  of  giving  life  to  the  Constitution.  An 
express  messenger  immediately  started,  sent  by 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      255 

General  Sullivan  to  Governor  Hancock ;  and  the 
glad  tidings  went  forward  at  once  to  Hamilton, 
while  Boston  again  broke  into  one  of  its  outbursts 
of  joy.  The  message  on  the  24th  of  June  reached 
Hamilton  at  Poughkeepsie;  and  as  the  distance 
was  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  the  feat  was 
then  thought  a  marvel  of  enterprise.  Who  the 
stout  riders  that  bore  it  so  rapidly  were,  there  is 
no  one  to  relate ;  but  the  wallet  thrown  across 
their  shoulders  bore  the  news  that  a  nation  had 
sprung  into  life  fully  armed,  as  it  is  fabled  that 
the  Athenian  goddess  was  born,  and  that  the 
sword  of  liberty  and  justice  to  all  men  was  in  her 
hand.  On  the  same  day  the  message  went  for 
ward  from  Hamilton  to  Madison  at  Richmond  ; 
but  before  it  could  reach  him,  Virginia  had 
spoken.  In  her  convention  had  ensued  the  most 
remarkable  debate  that  had  occurred  in  any  State. 
Its  leaders  on  opposite  sides  were  Patrick  Henry 
and  James  Madison.  Nor  were  they  unequally 
matched  ;  for  while  Madison  had  none  of  the  im 
passioned  eloquence  of  Henry,  yet,  cool,  calm,  and 
judicious  in  a  protracted  debate,  —  which,  if  main 
tained  long  enough,  will  be  decided  by  reason  and 
argument,  and  not  by  emotion  or  passion,  —  he 
was  a  most  formidable  opponent.  On  the  25th 
of  June,  without  the  knowledge  that  the  Constitu 
tion  had  already  been  adopted  by  the  requisite 
number  of  States,  Virginia  ratified  it  absolutely, 
although,  as  in  Massachusetts,  certain  amendments 
were  recommended.  The  conduct  of  Henry  was 


256          "THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

manly  and  patriotic.  When  the  result  was  reached, 
he  gave  his  assent  to  it  as  a  citizen  who  would  seek 
only  to  amend  what  he  deemed  the  defects  of  the 
system  in  a  constitutional  way.  It  is  pleasant  to 
remember  that  in  after  years  he  was  offered  the 
position  of  Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States  by 
Washington,  although  his  then  broken  health  com 
pelled  him  to  decline  it. 

The  conflict  in  New  York  was  bitter  to  the  last ; 
but  when  ten  States  had  ratified,  Hamilton  had  in 
his  hands  a  weapon  whose  thrusts  could  not  be  par 
ried.  As  fast  as  horse  and  man  could  carry  it,  the 
joyful  news  from  Madison  of  the  vote  of  Virginia 
reached  him  ;  yet  this  was  not  until  the  8th  of 
July.  On  the  26th  day  of  July,  by  the  slender 
majority  of  three  votes,  New  York  ratified  the 
Constitution,  in  terms  less  explicit  than  could  have 
been  wished,  yet  which  may  fairly  be  termed  un 
conditional .  For  Hamilton  it  was  indeed  a  day  of 
just  and  splendid  triumph.  North  Carolina  and 
Rhode  Island  alone  were  left,  and  their  ratification 
soon  followed ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  see  how  they  could 
have  done  otherwise. 

Throughout  the  long  struggle,  the  words  of 
Washington  had  been  heard  in  every  contested 
State,  in  letters  which  show  how  wise  and  far- 
seeing  he  was,  urging  upon  his  countrymen  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution.  The  universal  be 
lief  that  he  was  the  one  to  be  first  called  to  ad 
minister  it,  and  to  try  whatever  of  experiment  it 
involved,  had,  without  doubt,  a  strong  influence 
on  the  result. 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      257 

The  Congress  of  the  Confederation  met  for  the 
last  time  in  July,  1788,  to  give  direction  for  the 
organization  of  the  new  government  and  practi 
cally  to  read  its  own  death-warrant.  It  made  New 
York  the  temporary  seat  of  the  new  government, 
and  the  first  Wednesday  of  the  next  March,  which 
was  that  year  the  4th,  was  designated  to  com 
mence  proceedings  under  it.  It  fixed  a  time  for 
the  choice  of  the  electors  of  President  and  Vice- 
President,  and  it  left  to  the  States  each  for  itself 
the  times  and  places  of  choosing  their  senators  and 
representatives.  It  was  not,  in  fact,  until  the  6th 
of  April  of  the  next  year  that  the  Senate  and 
House  formed  a  quorum,  and  that  the  votes  were 
counted  by  John  Langdon,  the  President  of  the 
Seriate,  in  the  presence  of  the  two  Houses.  Each 
elector  had  at  that  time  two  votes  on  a  single 
ballot,  the  President  and  Vice-President  being  voted 
for  on  the  same  ticket,  and  the  highest  in  number 
being  the  chosen  President.  Every  one  of  the 
electoral  ballots  was  for  Washington ;  and  John 
Adams,  having  the  next  highest  in  number,  was 
declared  Vice-President. 

Washington  arrived  in  New  York  on  the  23d  of 
April,  and  the  30th  was  appointed  for  his  inaugu 
ration.  The  hall  of  the  Senate  was  upon  Wall 
Street,  where  he  was  ceremoniously  received  by  the 
two  Houses  on  the  day  fixed.  He  was  then  fifty- 
seven  years  old,  in  .the  manly  vigor  of  his  mature 
life,  before  age  with  its  frosty  touch  had  laid  its 
hand  upon  him.  As  he  stepped  out  on  the  balcony 

17 


258      THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

which  had  been  reared  in  front  of  the  hall  before 
the  vast  crowd  that  filled  the  streets,  all  felt  that 
no  more  majestic  and  stately  presence  had  ever 
been  seen  among  magistrates  or  the  rulers  of  men. 
Even  this  seemed  but  little  when  his  high  char 
acter,  his  grave  wisdom,  his  self-sacrificing  patriot 
ism,  were  remembered.  The  oath  of  office  was 
administered  to  him  by  Chancellor  Livingston,  who 
added,  "  Long  live  George  Washington,  President 
of  the  United  States  !"  while  the  streets  rang  with 
acclamations.  He  returned  to  the  Senate  chamber, 
and  as  he  closed  his  inaugural  speech,  trembling 
with  emotion,  he  said  :  "  It  would  be  peculiarly 
improper  to  omit  in  this  first  official  act  my  fer 
vent  supplications  to  that  Almighty  Being  who 
presides  in  the  councils  of  nations,  that  his  bene 
diction  may  consecrate  to  the  liberties  and  hap 
piness  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  a 
government  instituted  by  themselves.  .  .  .  The 
preservation  of  liberty  and  the  destiny  of  the  re 
publican  model  of  government  are  justly  consid 
ered  as  deeply,  perhaps  as  finally,  staked  on  the 
experiment  intrusted  to  the  American  people." 

From  the  masses  of  the  people  in  many  forms 
of  expression,  from  public  meetings,  from  the 
most  eminent  citizens  at  home,  from  friends  of 
the  country  and  of  republican  institutions  abroad, 
Washington  received  most  cordial  good  wishes  as  he 
entered  upon  his  great  task.  As  the  opening  suc 
cess  of  his  administration  began  to  develop  itself, 
he  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  from  Franklin,  a 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      259 

short  time  before  the  aged  patriot  died,  a  letter  of 
congratulation,  in  which  he  said,  "  For  my  own 
personal  ease  I  should  have  died  two  years  ago ; 
but  though  those  years  have  been  spent  in  ex 
cruciating  pain,  I  am  pleased  that  I  have  lived, 
since  they  have  brought  me  to  see  our  present 
situation." 

On  the  4th  of  March  next  a  hundred  years  will 
have  passed  since  the  government  commenced  un 
der  this  illustrious  man  came  into  existence.  It 
began  in  doubts  and  anxieties  long  since  dispelled, 
as  its  wonderful  elasticity  and  its  imperial  strength 
have  been  recognized.  While  the  highest  have 
not  been  above  its  power,  the  humblest  have  not 
been  below  its  fostering  care.  It  has  not  only 
borne  us  with  favoring  gales  over  sunny  seas  ;  it 
has  weathered  the  wildest  storm  that  ever  raged 
on  sea  or  land. 

There  have  been  twenty-five  Presidential  elec 
tions.  We  now  approach  the  twenty-sixth,  which 
will  be  the  first  in  our  second  century  of  national 
life.  Of  course  there  are  differences  of  opinion, 
which  are  expected  to  find  in  it  their  appropriate 
expression.  Nor  would  it  be  desirable  that  such 
occasions  should  pass  without  discussion  and  delib 
eration,  as  it  would  argue  an  indifference  to  public 
affairs  in  which  no  citizen  has  a  right  to  indulge. 
It  was  intended  by  the  fathers  that  power  should 
return  to  the  people  at  short  intervals,  that  they 
might  express  their  wish  as  to  its  exercise.  Yet 
as  there  can  be  no  administration  of  public  affairs 


260      THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

which,  if  successful,  will  not  shed  its  benefits  on  all, 
nor  any  which,  if  disastrous,  will  not  involve  all  in 
a  common  misfortune,  the  contest  may  well  be 
fraternal,  and  such  as  becomes  those  who  seek 
alike  the  general  welfare.  The  glory  and  the  hap 
piness  of  the  country  are  dear  to  all  its  children. 
Let  our  actions  and  our  example,  then,  always 
show  that,  as  the  people  are  the  rightful  authors 
and  depositaries  of  power,  so  they  are  also  its 
safest  and  wisest  guardians. 

1889. 

I  would  remind  you  that  at  our  last  meeting  we 
spoke  of  the  trials  that  attended  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
the  fact  that,  before  our  meeting  of  to-day,  the 
Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  Inauguration  of 
Washington  as  our  first  President  would  be  com 
memorated. 

The  War  of  the  Revolution  had  been  fought 
through  on  the  great  basis  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people,  yet  by  States  which  had  asserted  their 
independence  not  only  from  any  foreign  govern 
ment,  but  each  from  the  other.  The  Continental 
Congress  and  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation 
had  done  their  work  through  many  difficulties  and 
trials.  Alternately  urging  and  imploring  the 
respective  States,  having  no  executive  powers  to 
enforce  their  decrees,  and  no  executive  head 
through  whom  they  could  act,  they  had  still  ended 
the  war  in  triumph  by  the  peace  of  Versailles  in 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      261 

1783.  Inadequate  for  the  time  of  war,  it  was 
obvious  that  a  mere  Congress  of  distinct  States 
could  never  govern  when  the  danger  and  pressure 
of  war  were  withdrawn.  All  saw  that  in  some  way 
the  States  must  be  united  in  a  single  government, 
alike  as  regarded  foreign  nations  and  in  those 
relations  with  each  other  upon  which  their  inter 
course,  commerce,  and  safety  depended.  Their 
citizens  must  be  made  one  people,  as  they  had 
asserted  themselves  to  be  in  that  sentence  of  the 
Declaration  which  prefaces  the  statement  of  the 
causes  which  induced  them  as  one  people  to 
dissolve  the  political  bands  which  had  connected 
them  with  another.  Yet  the  jealousies  of  the 
different  States,  the  reluctance  of  the  people  to 
yield  any  portion  of  their  power  except  to  their 
own  immediate  State  government,  the  fear,  en 
gendered  by  the  long  and  desperate  struggle  with 
the  British  Crown,  of  executive  authority,  which 
they  knew  must  be  partially  surrendered  if  the 
government  they  sought  to  create  was  to  be 
efficient,  were  formidable  obstacles.  The  great 
executive  powers  which  are  in  the  hands  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  we  look  at  to-day 
without  any  apprehension  or  fear  that  they  can  be 
used  to  the  injury  of  the  people  or  the  diminution 
of  its  liberties.  We  recall  how  wisely  and  judi 
ciously,  taken  as  a  whole,  they  have  always  been 
exerted ;  and  we  have  lived  when  the  safety  of  a 
nation  demanded  that  they  should  be  exercised 
to  their  utmost  limit.  It  is  doubtful  if  a  hundred 


262  THE   BUNKER   HILL   MONUMENT. 

years  ago  they  would  have  been  confided  to  any 
one  but  for  the  thought  that  Washington  would  be 
the  first  to  exercise  them,  and  that  by  him  the  new 
government  would  be  tested.  The  sword  they 
placed  in  his  hands,  strongly  wielded  as  it  would 
be  against  domestic  disorder  or  foreign  aggression, 
they  knew  would  never  be  used  to  oppress  those 
who  had  invested  him  with  power.  The  vast  obli 
gations  they  were  under  to  him  as  a  warrior  they 
recognized,  but  his  fame  had  not  been  that  of  a 
soldier  only  ;  his  wisdom,  calmness,  and  moderation 
had  been  tried  often,  and  had  never  failed.  His 
unselfishness  was  as  conspicuous  as  his  valor.  If 
he  had  ambition,  it  was  that  which  was  to  be 
satisfied  by  serving  highly  a  great  and  noble  cause, 
and  not  by  empty  honors  or  rich  emoluments. 
Among  all  the  men  the  world  has  known,  history 
has  recorded  none  so  fit  as  he  to  be  the  guardian 
of  the  only  liberty  worth  having,  —  the  liberty 
which  is  enshrined  in  and  defined  and  protected  by 
law.  Profound  as  was  the  wisdom  of  Hamilton, 
Madison,  and  the  other  statesmen  who  framed  the 
Constitution,  skilfully  and  bravely  as  they  dealt 
with  the  many  trials  in  their  path,  had  it  not 
been  that  Washington  presided  over  their  delib 
erations,  and  consented,  reluctantly,  yet  yield 
ing  to  a  high  sense  of  duty,  to  endeavor  to 
make  of  that  Constitution  a  living  thing  by 
demonstrating  its  capacity  for  practical  operation, 
it  may  be  that  their  work  would  have  come  to 
naught. 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      263 

It  was  therefore  most  fitting  that  the  Centennial 
Anniversary  of  the  Inauguration  of  our  first 
President  should  have  been  celebrated  as  it  was  in 
our  great  commercial  metropolis,  where  the  event 
took  place  ;  nor  does  anything  appear  to  have  been 
wanting  to  the  magnificence  of  the  scene.  The 
naval  parade  in  the  harbor ;  the  march  of  sixty 
thousand  soldiers  through  the  streets,  —  soldiers 
only  because  they  were  citizens ;  the  array  of 
veterans ;  the  splendid  exhibitions  of  trade  and 
commerce ;  and,  above  all,  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  happy,  contented  people,  —  united  to 
constitute,  not  an  empty  pageant,  but  the  tribute 
which  the  occasion  demanded  ;  while  the  utter 
ances  of  the  distinguished  orator,  of  the  President 
and  the  two  ex-Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
were  replete  with  patriotic  fervor,  and  appealed  to 
no  sentiments  but  those  which  are  the  common 
property  of  all  true  American  hearts.  Not  less 
interesting  was  it  that,  in  response  to  the  pro 
clamation  of  the  President,  and  in  memory  of  the 
fact  that  a  hundred  years  before,  prayer  had  been 
offered  in  all  the  churches  of  New  York  for  the 
success  of  the  new  government,  so  many  of  our 
churches  and  religious  societies  throughout  the 
entire  country  gathered  together  in  thankfulness 
for  the  past,  in  hope  for  the  future,  in  earnest 
prayer  that  as  God  had  been  to  our  fathers  so 
might  he  be  to  us.  It  was  a  day,  whatever  our 
creed  or  party,  whatever  our  fortune  or  station, 
when  all  desired  to  meet,  united  only  by  the  tie  of 


264  THE   BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

American  citizenship.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
call  attention  to  the  difference  between  that  day  of 
prayerful  anxiety  when  the  first  President  was 
inaugurated,  and  the  splendid  ceremonial  which 
celebrated  its  Centennial  Anniversary,  or  to  attempt 
to  point  out  in  detail  the  vast  growth  of  the  United 
States  within  the  past  century,  its  widely  extended 
boundaries,  or  the  great  increase  in  wealth,  not 
merely  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  but  in  its  wider 
diffusion  through  all  ranks.  It  may  be  said  that 
with  a  fertile  continent  at  our  disposal,  even  had 
we  remained  colonies,  it  would  not  have  been  far 
otherwise.  If  to  some  extent  this  must  be  recog 
nized  as  true,  it  is  also  true  that  much  is  due  to 
the  Constitution  under  which  we  have  lived.  The 
lesson  of  America  to  the  world  is  the  capacity  of 
the  people  for  self-government ;  and  she  has  herself 
reaped  the  advantage  of  the  lesson  she  has  taught. 
Nor  do  I  doubt  that  if  those  who  framed  this 
wondrous  scheme  were  permitted  to  look  upon 
their  work,  they  would  feel  that,  in  spite  of  all 
deductions,  it  has  been  carried  forward  in  the 
spirit  in  which  they  commenced  it.  It  is  said 
that  one  of  Napoleon's  marshals,  who  always  re 
tained  ardently  his  republican  faith,  as  he  stood 
most  unwillingly  at  the  coronation  of  the  emperor, 
was  asked,  "  Is  there  anything  wanting  to  the 
splendor  of  this  scene?"  He  answered  gloomily, 
"  Nothing  but  the  presence  of  the  half-million  men 
who  have  died  on  the  battle-field  that  it  should  be 
impossible."  But  it  seems  to  me,  that  if,  upon  such 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      265 

a  scene  as  that  which  commemorated  the  Inaugu 
ration  of  Washington,  those  who  have  served  us 
wisely  and  bravely  through  the  past  one  hundred 
years,  and  are  gone  before  us,  had  been  permitted 
to  look, —  the  wise  men  who  have  made  for  us  just 
and  equal  laws ;  the  saintly  men  who,  not  by  per 
suasion  only,  but  by  the  higher  example  of  their 
noble  lives,  have  pointed  us  up  the  highest  paths  of 
charity  and  religion ;  the  brave  from  our  hundred 
battle-fields,  from  the  snows  of  Valley  Forge  or 
from  Saratoga  and  Yorktown,  and  those  who  came 
from  Gettysburg  and  Appomattox, —  that  invisible 
host  with  one  voice  would  have  said,  "  Whatever 
we  gave,  in  the  way  of  thought  or  teaching,  ex 
ample  or  even  life,  we  gave  willingly,  that  the 
American  people  might  be  thus  free,  great,  and 
happy."  On  such  an  occasion,  as  we  look  forward 
as  well  as  back,  our  glance  is  no  doubt  colored  with 
fear  or  with  hope,  to  some  extent,  by  our  own 
peculiarity  of  temperament.  Each  age  has  its 
trials ;  the  coming  one  will  not  be  free  from  them. 
In  all  that  we  can  recall  of  the  past,  in  all  that  we 
see  around  us  in  the  present,  I  can  see  no  ground 
for  that  distrust  of  the  future  in  which  gentlemen 
sometimes  indulge.  The  past  has  always  about  it 
a  glamour  that  attracts  the  fancy,  a  haze  that 
obscures  its  harsher  and  more  distasteful  features. 
There  were  never  better  or  more  hopeful  times  than, 
those  in  which  we  live ;  nor  do  I  allude  now  to 
material  wealth,  but  to  those  higher  qualities  which 
ennoble  and  dignify  life.  A  republic  must  depend, 


2G6  THE   BUNKER   HILL   MONUMENT. 

finally,  upon  the  character  of  the  mass  of  its  people, 
and  upon  their  fitness  to  bear  the  burdens  of  that 
citizenship  which  is  cast  upon  them.  Wise  and 
great  as  Washington  was,  he  would  have  had  no 
success  in  his  trying  task  if  the  intellect  and  heart 
of  America  had  not  responded  cordially  to  his. 
It  is  the  character  which  the  great  body  of  our 
people  have  exhibited,  the  responsibilities  they 
have  felt,  the  patriotism  they  have  displayed,  that 
have  brought  the  nation  to  the  proud  position  in 
which  it  stands  to-day.  If  the  statelier  manners 
of  a  former  generation  are  gone,  I  am  far  from 
thinking  that  ours  have  degenerated  into  either 
rudeness  or  vulgarity.  In  all  the  various  grades  of 
the  social  scale,  in  all  the  walks  of  life,  no  people 
ever  showed  more  regard  and  consideration  each 
for  the  other  than  do  the  American  people  now. 
And  as  none  was  ever  more  regardful  of  others,  so 
none  was  itself  ever  more  dignified  and  calmly 
self-respectful. 

If  wealth  has  been  showered  upon  us  in  large 
measure,  never  was  wealth  more  generously  used 
in  the  sacred  causes  of  education,  charity,  and  re 
ligion.  Our  temples  of  religious  worship,  our 
universities  and  schools,  our  hospitals,  attest  the 
lavish  hands  with  which  it  is  poured  out  through 
the  wide  channels  of  public  and  private  munifi 
cence.  How  instant  was  the  response  when  the 
news  of  the  sad  disaster  in  Pennsylvania  was 
spread  abroad  !  The  losses  of  the  great  capital 
ists  and  manufacturers  could  not  be  repaired  ex- 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.       267 

cept  in  time,  through  their  own  enterprise  and  in 
dustry  ;  but  every  village  recognized  that  a  suffer 
ing  people  was  its  kindred,  and  was  ready  with 
its  contribution,  that  they  should  instantly  have 
food,  clothing,  and  shelter. 

Nor,  as  in  retrospect  we  recall  the  terrible 
struggle  through  Avhich,  more  than  twenty-five 
years  ago,  we  were  called  upon  to  pass,  shall  we 
feel  that  patriotism  has'  been  or  will  be  wanting. 
The  men  who  then  seized  their  muskets  grow  old 
and  gray,  and  move  somewhat  heavily  now  ;  but 
their  successors  come  with  the  swinging  stride  of 
youth,  with  equal  courage,  and  if  the  sacrifice  shall 
be  demanded  of  them,  we  cannot  doubt,  with  equal 
self-devotion.  The  bronze  of  the  old  heroic  ages 
can  be  recast  again  and  again,  and  lose  neither  its 
strength  nor  its  fibre.  As  our  great  Civil  War  drew 
on,  there  were  not  wanting  those  who  said,  "  It  is 
useless  to  try  to  preserve  a  Union  between  States 
so  discordant ; "  or  who,  deeply  sensible  of  the 
evils  of  slavery,  still  said,  "  Let  the  wayward  sis 
ters  go  in  peace  !  "  Not  such  was  the  answer  of 
the  patriotic  heart  of  the  country.  As  the  start 
ling  news  was  spread  abroad  that  our  flag  had 
been  fired  upon,  our  sovereignty  denied,  came 
back  the  stern  response :  "  The  United  States  is 
a  nation  competent  everywhere  to  assert  its  right 
ful  authority."  How  grand  was  that  uprising, 
how  magnificent  were  the  results  achieved,  I  do 
not  need  to  remind  you.  The  brave  dead  lie  on 
many  a  field  made  sacred  by  their  valor ;  but 


268      THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

heavy  as  was  the  price,  who  shall  say  that  what 
they  accomplished  was  not  worth  it  ?  Who  shall 
say  that  if  they  might  be  restored  to  us  again, 
but,  with  them  must  be  restored  the  discordant 
Union  with  its  system  of  slavery,  we  could  wish 
them  back  ?  Nay,  who  believes  that  they  would 
themselves  accept  life  again  at  such  a  price  ?  The 
fathers  of  the  Constitution  knew  the  flaw  in  their 
work,  but  it  was  a  difficulty  that  they  could  not 
extricate  from  the  problem  before  them ;  they 
trusted  it  would  pass  away  before  the  advancing 
light  of  freedom  and  knowledge.  It  was  not  thus 
to  be.  It  was  to  vanish  only  in  the  storm  and  the 
tempest  ;  but  now  that  it  is  gone,  earth  and  sky 
are  sweeter  and  fairer  than  before. 

It  is  the  immediate  object  of  our  Society  to 
honor  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution,  but  it  is  es 
pecially  their  example  which  we  strive  to  incul 
cate.  With  the  men  of  our  war  that  memory  was 
present  always  as  an  inspiration  and  a  guide,  —  a 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night ;  and 
by  the  law  of  natural  association,  the  fame  of  the 
patriots  of  the  Revolution  gathers  to  itself  always 
that  of  those  who  faithfully,  wisely,  or  bravely 
serve  their  country.  Standing  on  the  verge  of 
the  second  century  of  our  national  life,  the  future 
waves  towards  us  its  beckoning  hand.  The  call 
must  be  answered,  and  the  nation  goes  forward  to 
meet  it.  Let  it  advance,  not  in  the  sordid  spirit 
of  those  who  seek  only  material  gain,  but  in  the 
firm  belief  that  an  exalted  love  of  country,  and 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      269 

an  earnest  wish  for  the  elevation  of  its  people, 
will  guide  it  safely  through  all  the  rocks  and  over 
all  the  shoals  that  may  beset  its  onward  way. 

Before  I  leave  this  theme,  it  may  not  be  im 
proper  to  remind  you  that  within  the  past  year 
has  died  almost  the  only  great  English  statesman 
who  steadfastly  and  unflinchingly  upheld  our 
cause  during  the  late"  Civil  War.  It  is  said  that 
"  the  troubles  of  one  nation  are  the  opportunities 
of  another,"  as  then  the  latter  may  urge  her 
claims  and  pursue  her  demands  to  advantage. 
No  such  worldly  maxim  of  statecraft  ever  entered 
his  loyal  heart.  With  an  eloquence  that  had  made 
for  him  one  of  the  highest  places  among  orators 
who  speak  in  the  English  tongue,  his  voice  was 
heard  on  our  behalf  alike  on  the  platform  and 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  Fronting  the  great 
commercial  and  industrial  interests  which  would 
willingly  have  seen  so  formidable  a  rival  as  tlie 
United  States  crushed,  and  with  whom  his  own 
fortunes  were  identified,  he  always  insisted  that 
the  cause  of  the  Union  was  the  cause  of  law 
and  order  as  against  disorder  and  anarchy,  of 
right  and  justice  as  against  wrong  and  injustice, 
of  liberty  against  slavery.  The  American  who 
visits  the  great  manufacturing  city  which  was  the 
home  of  this  great  and  good  man,  may  well  pause 
for  a  moment  in  grateful  memory  at  the  humble 
Friends'  burial-ground,  where  John  Bright,  to  use 
his  simple  phrase,  rests  "  among  his  own  people." 

It    is  an    interesting   fact    also,  not    unworthy 


270      THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

of  passing  notice,  that  the   same   week  that  wit 
nessed    on  this  continent  the  close  of  the  Ameri 
can  Revolution    by    the    inauguration    of    Wash 
ington  on  April  30,  saw  upon  the   other   side   of 
the  ocean  the  commencement  of  that  great  move 
ment  in  political  affairs,  the  French  Revolution,  by 
the  assembling  of  the  States-General  on  the  5th  of 
May,  1789.     The  principles  then  avowed  are  not 
to  be  confounded  with  those  which  controlled  four 
years  later.     The  right  of  the  governed  to  partici 
pate  in  the  government  so  far  as  to  determine  for 
what  and    the   amount   for  which  they  shall   be 
taxed,  the   right  of  all  to  be  taxed  alike  and  to 
stand  equal  before  the  law,  the  concurrence  of  the 
nation  and  the  ruler  in  making  the  laws,  the  re 
sponsibility  of  those  who  execute  them,  are  princi 
ples  not  contested  by  any  constitutional  monarchy 
in  Europe.     When  we  recollect  that  at  that  time 
the  subjects  of  some  of  the  European  princes  were 
sold   as   sheep    to    fight    in    wars    in    which    they 
had    no  interest,   that  a  formidable    part  of   the 
British  Army  during  the  last  years  of  the  War 
of  the  Revolution  consisted   of  those  who  would 
themselves    most   willingly   have    been    harmless 
German  peasants,  and  whom  we  knew  under  the 
general  name   of  Hessians,  it  must  be  conceded 
that    something    like    a    revolution    was    sorely 
needed  in  Europe.      The  excesses,  deplorable  as 
they  were,  into  which  at  a  later  period  the  French 
Revolution  fell,  when  confronted  with  the  armies 
of  all  the  monarchical  powers  of  Europe,  in  its  as- 


THE  BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT.      271 

sertion  of  the  right  of  the  French  people  to  govern 
themselves,  must  not  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  it 
marked  a  great  step  in  the  progress  of  self-govern 
ment.  This  great  event  France  is  now  celebrat 
ing  by  her  magnificent  Exposition,  for  which  in 
aid  of  our  interests  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  has  made  a  most  liberal  appropriation. 
She  has  wisely  made  it  the  occasion  for  a  celebra 
tion  of  peace,  with  no  disposition  to  awaken  the 
memory  of  the  wars  which  desolated  Europe.  It 
was  perhaps  not  to  be  expected  that  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  monarchical  governments,  even  of 
those  which  have  themselves  conceded  all  that  was 
demanded  by  the  States-General  of  1789,  would  be 
represented  at  its  opening  ceremonial ;  but  I  have 
observed  that  two  hundred  and  sixty-three  mem 
bers  of  Parliament,  with  the  illustrious  Mr.  Glad 
stone  at  their  head,  have  protested  against  the 
absence  of  the  British  minister  on  that  occasion. 
The  republics  of  the  world  were  there,  our  own 
at  the  head  ;  and  I  cannot  but  consider  it  a  for 
tunate  circumstance  that  the  banquet  given  by 
them  to  the  President  and  the  French  Govern 
ment  was  presided  over  by  Mr.  McLane,  the  re 
tiring  American  minister,  and  attended  by  Mr. 
Whitelaw  Reid,  the  incoming  minister  (whose 
credentials  had  not  then  been  formally  presented), 
for  I  feel  that  the  good  people  of  both  our  great 
parties  unite  in  the  wish  that  France,  our  earliest 
friend  and  our  always  faithful  ally,  may  enjoy  all 
the  advantages  of  a  permanent;  well-settled,  orderly, 


272  THE   BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT. 

free  government.  For  the  third  time  in  her  his 
tory  of  the  century  she  is  a  republic.  That  her 
difficulties  are  many,  is  readily  seen.  Compelled 
to  maintain  a  great  army,  subjected  to  the  jeal 
ousy  of  the  governments  about  her,  beset  by  the 
supporters  of  the  regal  and  imperial  families,  there 
is  no  easy  task  before  those  who  strive  to  guide 
her  destinies ;  but  I  warmly  wish  that  she  may 
rise  above  them  all. 

Never,  since  the  Napoleonic  wars,  was  there  a 
time  when  Europe  was  so  oppressed  with  vast 
armies  and  armaments,  as  to-day.  It  is  our 
fortune  to  try  the  problem  of  republican  govern 
ment  under  happier  conditions,  and  such  as  have 
never  before  existed.  No  armies  oppress  our 
people  with  their  vast  expenditure,  no  factions 
threaten  our  form  of  government ;  there  is  use 
ful  and  honorable  employment  for  all.  It  is  for 
us  as  faithful  citizens  to  show  that  we  are  wor 
thy  of  the  political  blessings  that  have  so  gen 
erously  been  bestowed  upon  us. 


ORATION   ON  THE  TWENTY-FIFTH  ANNI 
VERSARY  OF  THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

DELIVERED   AT    PHILADELPHIA,  APRIL    15,   1890. 


COMPANIONS  OF  THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY,  — 
I  congratulate  you  that  we  are  assembled  in  such 
full  numbers  to  celebrate  the  Twenty-fifth  Anni 
versary  of  the  formation  of  this  Order.  Sur 
vivors  of  many  a  hard-fought  battle  and  many 
a  desperate  day,  you  come  alike  from  the  long 
marches  and  fierce  conflicts  which  gave  us  pos 
session  of  the  South  and  West ;  from  the  banks 
of  the  Cumberland,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi ; 
from  the  narrower,  yet  not  less  terrible  field 
where  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  fought  out 
finally  to  the  bitter  end  its  bloody  and  pro 
tracted  duel  with  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  ;  and  from  every  scene  by  land  or  sea  made 
red  by  heroic  strife.  The  mountain  ranges,  the 
deep  bayous,  the  rich  and  broad  plains,  the  mighty 
rivers  of  the  fairest  portion  of  a  continent,  attest 
your  constancy  and  valor.  Time  as  well  as  war 
has  been  generous  to  you  in  this,  —  that  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  it  has  permitted  you  to  enjoy 
the  just  regard  of  a  nation  and  the  full  fruition 

18 


274      ORATIOX   BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGION. 

of  your  deeds.  For  this  bounteous  gift  let  us 
render  the  homage  of  grateful  hearts. 

We  are  fortunate  in  the  place  where  we  as 
semble.  The  city  of  Philadelphia  was  the  capital 
of  our  Revolutionary  era.  Here  were  proclaimed 
the  birth  and  independence  of  the  United  States. 
Here,  too,  was  framed  that  Constitution  which  is 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  Revolution.  The  peace 
with  Great  Britain,  in  1783,  had  left  us  without 
a  settled  government,  and  the  discords  of  jealous 
States  had  already  appeared.  The  years  that  im 
mediately  followed  were  filled  with  profound  dis 
trust  and  anxious  forebodings.  The  convention 
that  met  here  in  1787  made  of  these  States  a 
people  and  a  nation.  Where  should  those  who 
offered  their  lives  to  defend  that  Constitution 
meet  more  happily  or  more  proudly  than  in  the 
city  in  which  it  received  its  birth  ? 

Nor  ought  we  to  forget  that  in  the  hour  of  the 
Rebellion  this  city  lost  none  of  its  ancient  repu 
tation  for  patriotism.  Its  gallant  sons  were  among 
our  earliest  and  bravest  soldiers ;  its  generous  con 
tributions,  its  sanitary  commissions,  its  Christian 
commissioners,  its  cordial  supplies  of  provisions  to 
the  soldiers  going  to  or  returning  from  the  front, 
its  unfailing  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  are 
embalmed  in  sacred  remembrance.  We  whose 
residence  is  to  the  north  and  east  had  from  our 
position  the  largest  share  of  this  lavish  hospitality. 
One  who  has  been  through  here,  as  I  have  been, 
with  a  hungry  regiment,  and  seen  every  man 


ORATION   BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGION.      275 

bountifully  fed,  or  has  come,  as  I  have  come,  a 
wounded  soldier,  and  known  the  kind  care  of  its 
citizens  and  the  skill  of  its  justly  renowned  sur 
geons,  may  certainly  speak  with  something  like 
personal  feeling. 

The  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  had  its 
inception  on  that  saddest  day,  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  Civil  War,  when  humanity  throughout  the 
world  was  shocked  by  the  death  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln.  In  honor  of  that  illustrious  memory,  and 
of  the  great  cause  for  which  we  had  fought ;  in 
recognition  of  the  affectionate  friendships  which 
had  been  inspired  among  the  officers  of  the  army 
then  about  to  disband ;  in  historic  recollection  of 
the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  which  had  embraced 
the  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  —  it  was 
determined  to  form  this  Order  ;  and  at  a  meeting 
of  a  few  officers  in  .this  city  the  initial  steps  were 
that  day  taken  for  its  organization.  It  was  the 
first  of  the  military  societies  which  followed,  or 
rather  accompanied,  the  close  of  the  war.  I  do 
not  intend  to  pursue  the  details  of  its  history, 
except  to  say  that  when,  some  time  later,  the 
society  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  was 
formed,  intended  to  comprehend  all  of  whatever 
rank  who  had  honorably  served,  no  antagonism 
was  created  to  this,  nor  was  any  reason  seen  why, 
in  its  more  limited  sphere,  this  might  not  also  be 
properly  maintained.  To  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  we  have  always  fully  and  cordially  ac 
corded  as  its  rightful  place  the  position  of  the 


276      ORATION   BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGIOX. 

great  representative  society  which  includes  and 
gathers  into  itself  every  association  of  that  whole 
American  army  which  subdued  the  Rebellion. 
That  society  has  extended  wide  its  generous  and 
open-handed  charity ;  it  has  cherished  the  noblest 
patriotism ;  and  if  there  are  those  of  this  associa 
tion  who  are  not  also  members  of  that,  I  urge 
them  respectfully  to  join  its  ranks,  and  to  give  to  it 
their  cordial  support  in  its  purest  and  highest  aims. 
Of  the  officers  who  listen  to  me,  many,  almost  a 
majority,  have  carried  the  musket  and  the  knap 
sack  in  the  ranks,  and  are  justly  proud  that  they 
have  won  their  way  by  their  own  ability  and  de 
termination.  To  some  the  possession  of  high  mili 
tary  qualities  may  have  given  command,  yet  in  all 
armies  rank  and  promotion  are  often  the  result  of 
circumstance  and  opportunity,  and  thus  accident 
contributes  to  success.  It  was  especially  so  in  our 
own,  springing  as  it  did  from  the  ground  at  once 
in  answer  to  the  call  of  an  imperilled  country. 
Long  and  faithful  service  brought  to  many  a  man 
only  the  proud  consolation  of  duty  nobly  done,  of 
sacrifice  generously  offered,  and  of  that  self-respect 
which  one  may  well  maintain  even  in  the  hum 
blest  home.  As  I  would  speak  to-night  of  all  our 
armies  as  but  one,  so  would  I  speak  of  those  who 
composed  it  as  but  a  single  body  of  men.  Side  by 
side,  on  many  a  field  won  by  their  valor,  no  use 
less  coffins  around  their  breasts,  but  wrapped  in 
the  blanket  which  is  the  soldier's  martial  shroud, 
officers  and  men  await  together  the  coming  of  the 


ORATION   BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGION.      277 

eternal  day.  Side  by  side  those  more  fortunate 
who  have  returned,  have  returned  with  equal 
claims  to  the  regard  and  love  of  those  for  whom 
they  fought.  When  one  has  done  his  whole  duty, 
so  far  as  his  title  to  respect  is  concerned,  it  can 
and  ought  to  make  no  difference  whether  he  did  it 
with  the  stars  of  the  general  or  the  eagles  of  the 
colonel  on  his  shoulder,  or  in  the  simple  jacket  of 
the  private.  The  fame  of  every  general,  even  in 
the  highest  rank,  must  depend  largely  on  the  men 
whom  he  leads.  However  far-reaching  and  saga 
cious  his  plans  may  be,  it  is  still  by  strong  hands 
and  stout  hearts  that  they  must  be  carried  out 
and  results  achieved. 

When  we  consider  how  little  adapted  the  edu 
cation  of  the  American  citizen  is  to  that  system  of 
discipline  which  is  intended  to  make  of  the  soldier 
a  machine,  in  order  that  the  physical  strength  and 
power  of  thousands  may  be  wielded  by  the  will  of 
one  alone ;  when  we  remember  how  prone  we  all 
of  us  are  to  criticise  the  acts  of  others  or  their 
orders  and  directions,  —  we  realize  how  difficult  it 
must  have  been  to  yield  that  unquestioning  obedi 
ence  which  is  the  necessary  rule  of  the  military 
service.  Yet  how  generously  our  men  gave  their 
confidence,  how  nobly  they  strove,  sometimes  in  dis 
aster,  often  under  the  most  trying  circumstances, 
to  execute  the  orders  they  received  !  To  one  who 
held  any  command  the  wish  must  often  have  come 
that  he  could  have  led  them  better  and  done  fuller 
justice  to  their  merits. 


278      ORATION  BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGION. 

Companions,  we  meet  not  merely  for  a  few 
hours  of  social  enjoyment,  nor  alone  to  renew  our 
friendships  formed,  although  many  of  them  were 
formed  when  the  death-shots  were  falling  thick  and 
fast ;  we  meet  also  to  reassert  our  devotion  to  the 
great  cause  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union ;  we 
meet  to  honor  the  memories  of  those  who  bravely 
died  in  that  righteous  cause,  or  who  have  passed 
from  our  side  in  the  years  that  have  followed,  and 
to  dedicate  ourselves  anew  to  our  country  and  to 
the  great  principles  of  liberty  and  justice. 

In  the  long  annals  of  wars  with  which  the  earth 
has  been  filled,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  any 
less  justifiable  than  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
The  flimsy  dogma  of  the  right  of  a  State  to  secede 
from  the  Union  at  its  own  will  and  pleasure,  and 
assert  its  sovereignty  against  that  of  the  govern 
ment  of  which  it  formed  a  component  part,  was  a 
pretence  only  by  which  the  leaders  of  the  slave 
States  sought  to  disguise  their  project  of  erecting 
an  empire  whose  corner-stone  was  to  be  (to  use 
Mr.  Vice-President  Stephens's  own  words)  the 
system  of  slavery. 

Had  any  one  in  Philadelphia  in  1787  uttered 
the  gloomy  foreboding  that  every  State  might  with 
draw  from  the  Union  at  its  own  pleasure,  and  that 
the  Constitution  had  thus  provided  for  its  own  dis 
solution,  his  fears  would  have  been  scouted  and 
laughed  to  scorn.  He  would  have  been  told  that 
this  Union  is  not  one  of  States,  but  of  the  people 
of  all  the  States,  —  so  it  is  expressly  declared  ;  as 


ORATION  BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGION.      279 

such  alone  can  it  be  accepted.  It  was  a  necessity 
of  the  task  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitu 
tion  had  before  them,  that  the  government  they 
had  met  to  form  should  include  two  classes  of 
States.  Nor  did  the  difficulty  appear  to  them  so 
formidable  as  it  afterwards  proved.  Fresh  from 
their  own  struggle  for  liberty,  they  could  not 
but  be  conscious  that  slavery  was  utterly  incon 
sistent  with  the  principles  upon  which  a  free 
government  must .  rest ;  they  fully  believed  that 
it  would  die  out  and  drift  silently  away.  It 
was  not  thus  to  pass  away,  but  in  the  wildest  of 
storms  and  tempests  that  ever  raged  on  sea  or 
land ;  but  now  that  it  is  gone,  earth  and  sky  are 
fairer  than  before. 

Without  dwelling  on  the  various  phases  of  the 
protracted  controversy  to  which  this  system  gave 
rise  under  the  influence  of  men  who  were  willing 
to  sacrifice  the  Union  to  its  perpetuity,  the  failure 
to  make  of  Kansas  a  slave  State,  and  the  election 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  had 'settled  that  there  was  to  be  no 
more  slave  territory  added  to  the  Union.  Madly 
resolved  to  rule  or  ruin,  those  who  controlled  the 
public  opinion  of  the  South  determined  to  dissolve 
the  Union.  No  real  grievance  existed,  but  im 
aginary  ones  could  be  trumped  up.  No  right  of  the 
Southern  States  was  invaded,  or  even  threatened. 
The  President-elect  had  solemnly  pledged  himself 
to  protect  them  in  every  right ;  nor  could  he,  if 
he  would,  have  done  otherwise,  as,  while  they 
remained,  his  administration  would  have  had  an 


280   ORATION  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

adverse  majority  in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  which 
they  could  substantially  control.  But  his  election 
was  made  at  once  the  occasion  of  secession  by  the 
cotton  States,  which  stood,  however,  alone  during 
the  anxious  winter  of  1860—61.  The  Union  feel 
ing  was  still  strong  in  the  States  that  lay  north 
of  them,  and  they  were  as  yet  reluctant  to  take 
the  decisive  step.  Something  must  be  done  to 
involve  them,  —  something  to  "fire  the  Southern 
heart,"  as  the  phrase  of  the  day  was,  and  to  in 
duce  them  to  make  common  cause  ;  and  so  the 
tempest  of  shot  and  shell  was  let  loose  upon 
Fort  Sumter.  The  experiment  had  the  success 
which  was  anticipated,  and  a  success  which  was 
not  anticipated  ;  for  if  the  Southern  heart  was 
fired,  so  was  the  Northern  also.  How  majestic 
was  that  uprising,  how  former  political  differences 
were  forgotten,  how  strongly  all  felt  that  the  great 
tie  of  American  citizenship  was  above  all  party, 
I  do  not  need  to  remind  you.  There  were  not 
wanting  those  who,  aghast  at  the  gulf  of  fire  that 
seemed  opening  before  us,  said,  "  Let  the  way 
ward  sisters  go  in  peace ; "  there  were  not  wanting 
others  who,  deeply  sensible  of  the  evils  of  slavery, 
were  ready  to  grasp  at  the  opportunity  of  separa 
ting  from  the  States  which  tolerated  it.  The  loyal 
head  of  the  country  was  wiser,  the  loyal  heart  of 
the  country  truer  than  this.  As  the  startling  news 
flew  from  city  to  city  and  village  to  village,  east 
and  west,  that  our  flag  had  been  insulted  and  tram 
pled  upon,  and  the  integrity  of  our  government 


ORATION   BEFORE   THE   LOYAL  LEGION.      281 

assailed,  the  stern  tones  of  the  answer  of  the 
people  always  came  back,  "  The  United  States  is 
a  nation  competent  to  assert  its  own  sovereignty, 
and  to  subdue  and  punish  traitors."  To  them  the 
Union  was  not  a  rope  of  sand  to  be  blown  about 
by  every  breeze,  or  washed  away  by  a  summer  sea, 
but  a  chain  whose  golden  links  were  strong  as 
adamant.  Forged  in  the  fire  of  that  great  strife 
which  had  finally  separated  us  from  the  most 
powerful  nation  on  the  earth,  it  was  clear  that 
if  the  Union  were  once  destroyed,  all  hope  of 
erecting  any  stable  government  upon  its  ruins 
must  for  the  time  be  abandoned.  The  conflicts 
of  discordant  States  were  before  us,  grinding 
against  each  other  their  bloody  edges  in  fierce 
contentions,  which,  like  the  wars  of  the  Saxon 
Heptarchy,  would  be  worth  no  more  to  the  ad 
vancement  of  the  world  than  the  wars  of  the 
kites  and  crows.  Nor  if  two  distinct  confed 
eracies  could  have  been  framed,  was  permanent 
peace  between  them  possible.  Two  great  sys 
tems  of  civilization  were  front  to  front  and  face 
to  face.  The  conflict  in  arms,  to  which  we  had 
been  summoned  by  the  cannon  which  bombarded 
Fort  Sumter,  was  indeed  irrepressible.  It  was  a 
necessity  of  empire  that  one  or  the  other  should 
conquer.  Rich  and  broad  as  the  continent  is, 
with  its  great  gateways  on  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific  seas,  it  was  not  broad  enough  for  both. 

It   was  a  great  elemental  struggle,  where  the 
differences  had  their  origin  in  the  foundations  of 


282   ORATION  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

society  itself.  There  are  times  in  the  history  of 
nations  when  the  conduct  of  its  wars  may  be 
left  to  its  regular  forces  ;  yet  no  such  time  had 
come  to  us.  It  was  a  war  of  the  people,  waged 
unhappily  against  a  portion  of  the  same  people, 
yet  not  the  less  in  obedience  to  the  plainest  princi 
ples  of  justice  and  right.  Nor  let  it  ever  be  for 
gotten  that  although  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion 
were  successful  in  drawing,  into  it  most  of  the 
States  of  the  South,  there  were  true  men  every 
where  who  never  yielded  and  never  faltered 
in  their  allegiance.  If  I  could  properly  give  a 
warmer  welcome  to  any  above  others,  it  should 
be  to  the  gallant  soldiers  of  Kentucky  and  Ten 
nessee,  of  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Missouri,  and 
other  States  of  the  South,  who  came  to  rejoice 
our  hearts  and  strengthen  our  hands. 

It  was  in  the  feeling  of  the  most  exalted  pa 
triotism  that  the  national  army  was  formed,  and 
the  men  who  composed  it  embraced  all  that 
was  purest  and  bravest  in  the  young  life  of  a 
nation.  Counting  all  the  cost,  recognizing  all 
the  danger,  the  path  of  duty  before  them  was 
plain,  and  they  followed  it.  No  doubt  the  blood 
of  youth  was  high  in  their  veins,  and  they  looked 
forward  not  unwillingly  to  the  stern  'joy  of  the 
conflict;  but  love  of  country  was  still  the  great 
moving  principle  which  actuated  them.  It  is 
not  a  penalty,  it  is  a  just  responsibility,  that  a 
government  founded  by  a  people  should  look  to 
them  for  its  legitimate  defence.  Certainly,  I 


ORATION   BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGION.      283 

would  speak,  neither  to-night  nor  at  any  other 
time,  any  words  of  harshness  or  unkindness  in 
dividually  of  those  with  whom  we  were  lately  at 
war.  There  is  no  body  of  men  more  anxious  to 
be  at  peace  with  all  their  countrymen  than  are 
the  soldiers  of  the  national  army ;  there  are  no 
utterances  more  cordial  in  favor  of  a  generous 
oblivion  and  forgetfulness  than  are  theirs ;  but 
they  cannot,  and  they  ought  not  to  forget  that  the 
cause  for  which  those  who  opposed  them  stood 
was  gravely  wrong.  It  is  the  cause  for  which 
our  brave  have  died  that  forever  sets  them  apart 
among  the  myriads  who  people  the  silent  cities 
of  the  dead.  Let  us  be  generous  to  those  with 
whom  we  had  to  contend,  but  let  us  be  just  to 
our  own  cause.  We  willingly  do  honor  to  their 
courage  and  valor ;  but  those  high  qualities  have 
sometimes  gilded  with  a  false  light  causes  which 
cannot  command  the  approval  of  the  world,  or 
bear  the  clear,  white  light  of  time.  We  know 
the  allowances  which  must  be  made  for  erro 
neous  beliefs,  for  mistaken  education,  for  old 
associations,  for  the  example  of  others,  even  for 
temporary  feeling  and  passion.  Let  us  make 
them  freely.  Yet,  when  all  are  made,  neither 
the  living  nor  the  dead  of  a  great  and  holy 
cause  can  be  confounded  with  those  who  fell  in 
the  wretched  struggle  to  destroy  a  nation  or 
erect  a  system  of  government  false  to  the  great 
principles  of  liberty.  Their  cause,  as  well  as 
ours,  is  rapidly  passing  into  history.  Before 


284   ORATION  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

that  great  tribunal  we  are  ready  to  hold  up  our 
hands  and  plead  and  answer.  Nor  shall  we  fear 
that  its  verdict  can  be  otherwise  than  that  ours 
was  the  cause  of  order  against  disorder,  of  just 
and  righteous  government  against  rebellion,  of 
liberty  against  slavery.  If  it  be  less  than  this, 
then  was  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  the  patriot  he  has 
been  somewhere  lately  eulogized,  and  we,  and 
the  brave  who  offered  their  lives  with  us,  but 
successful  traitors. 

It  is  not  for  us  here  to  review,  even  in  the  most 
cursory  way,  the  events  of  that  tremendous  strug 
gle.  Such  would  be  the  office  of  the  historian,  not 
of  the  casual  speaker.  The  problem  before  us  we 
underrated  in  the  beginning,  nor  since  have  we 
taken  the  credit  which  is  fairly  due  for  overcoming 
its  difficulties.  To  conduct  a  war  over  such  an  ex 
tended  territory  with  success,  to  seize  and  hold  its 
strategic  points  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile  and  war 
like  population,  to  maintain  the  lengthened  lines 
of  communication  for  armies  operating  far  from 
their  base,  constituted  an  enterprise  unparalleled 
in  its  demand  for  men  and  resources.  That  the 
contest  must  broaden  into  one  for  the  liberty  of  all 
men,  and  that  the  plague  spot  which  had  troubled 
the  peace  of  the  Union  must  be  cut  out  by  the 
surgeon's  knife,  was  obvious  from  the  first.  The 
year  1862  stands  forever  memorable  as  including 
one  of  those  events  whose  occurrence  marks  the 
opening  of  a  new  era,  and  shows  that  the  great 
bell  of  time  has  struck  another  hour.  "  I  had 


ORATION    BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGIOX.      285 

made  a  solemn  vow,"  says  Mr.  Lincoln  himself, 
u  that  if  General  Lee  was  driven  from  Maryland  I 
would  crown  the  result  by  a  declaration  of  freedom 
to  the  slaves."  That  vow  was  faithfully  kept,  for 
on  the  Monday  which  followed  the  information 
that  the  battle  of  Antiekam  was  won,  such  a  dec 
laration  was  issued,  and  it  was  followed  on  Jan 
uary  1  by  the  more  formal  proclamation  which 
declared  all  persons  to  be  free  within  the  insurgent 
States,  stating  the  act  to  be  demanded  by  military 
necessity,  and  invoking  upon  it  "  the  considerate 
judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of 
Almighty  God."  Such  an  act  was,  from  its  very 
nature,  irrevocable.  On  that  daty  the  shifting 
sands  of  concession  and  compromise  passed  from 
under  the  feet  of  the  American  people,  and  they 
planted  themselves  firmly  on  the  great  rocks  of 
liberty  and  justice  to  all  men,  to  be  moved  there 
from,  we  will  believe,  no  more  forever. 

The  succeeding  year  witnessed  the  splendid  vic 
tory  of  Gettysburg,  which,  accompanying  the  fall 
of  Vicksburg,  marks  definitely  the  culminating 
point  of  the  conflict  by  the  joint  triumph  of  the 
Eastern  and  Western  armies,  aided  by  our  gallant 
navy.  Although  the  waves  were  to  come  again 
and  yet  again,  no  wave  was  to  come  higher  than 
that  which  was  dashed  back  in  clouds  of  broken, 
dissolving  spray  as  it  struck  the  iron  wall  of  the 
infantry  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  causes 
of  the  movement  of  the  Confederate  Army  into 
Pennsylvania  were  never  fully  stated  by  General 


286      ORATION   BEFORE   THE   LOYAL   LEGIOX. 

^ 

Lee.  He  intimates  distinctly  in  his  report  that 
others  existed  than  those  of  a  purely  military  char 
acter.  Without  doubt,  among  them  was  the  hope 
to  break  something  of  the  force  of  the  impending 
fall  of  Vicksburg,  which,  grasped  in  the  iron  em 
brace  of  Grant  and  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
*nust  soon  surrender.  A  victory  won  on  Northern 
soil  would  do  this.  It  is  the  good  fortune  of  the 
patriotic  State  in  which  we  stand  that  it  contains 
within  its  borders  not  only  this  memorable  field, 
but  that  its  fame  is  allied  to  the  victory  by  the 
memory  of  three  of  its  most  illustrious  command 
ers.  The  calm  and  judicious  Meade,  whose  wisdom 
brought  about  the  encounter  in  which  the  enemy 
was  obliged  to  attack,  and  in  which  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  was  able  for  once  to  stand  on  the  de 
fensive  ;  the  splendid  Hancock,  the  idol  of  the 
Potomac  Army,  whose  fiery  words  and  majestic 
presence  infused  into  all  around  him  something  of 
the  courage  of  his  own  daring  heart,  —  are  gone  to 
day.  They  lived  long  enough  to  be  assured  of  the 
honor  and  love  in  which  they  were  held  by  their 
countrymen ;  but  on  the  field  and  at  the  head  of 
the  First  Corps  died  Reynolds,  then,  as  always, 
unassuming,  modest,  brave,  contributing  nobly  to 
that  victory  whose  fruits  he  was  never  to  enjoy. 
Yet  where  could  man  die  better  than  in  the  de 
fence  of  his  native  State,  his  life-blood  mingling 
with  the  soil  on  which  he  first  drew  breath  ?  The 
4th  of  July,  1863,  was  the  proudest  day  which  up 
to  that  time  the  Union  arms  had  ever  known,  for 


ORATION   BEFORE   THE  LOYAL   LEGION.      287 

the  cannon  which  ushered  in  a  nation's  natal  day 
were  mingled  with  those  which  told  through  the 
North  the  victory  of  Gettysburg,  arid  were  echoed 
and  re-echoed  from  the  West  and  South  along 
with  those  which  in  thunder  tones  announced  that 
Vicksburg  had  fallen,  and  that  the  Mississippi  ran 
"  unvexed  to  the  sea." 

The  terrible  year  of  1864  was  yet  to  come.  The 
control  of  all  the  armies  was  to  pass  into  the  hands, 
of  General  Grant  alone,  and  to  be  directed  by  his 
single  will.  The  region  west  of  the  Alleghanies  was 
secure  under  the  direction* of  Sherman;  and  as  he 
made  his  great  march  from  Chattanooga  to  At 
lanta,  and  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea,  the  conflicts  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  with  its  formidable  op 
ponent  were  renewed  again  and  again  on  the 
desperate  fields  of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania, 
and  Cold  Harbor.  In  the  spring  of  1865  that 
great  army  moved  to  its  last  series  of  battles,  and 
the  surrender  of  Appomattox  followed.  The  sword 
of  Lee  was  laid  in  the  conquering  hand  of  Grant, 
and  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  was  over.  Hence 
forward  no  shot  was  fired  in  anger,  and  the 
surrender  of  the  other  armies  of  the  Confederacy 
followed.  No  executions,  no  harsh  punishments 
were  to  mark  its  close ;  yet  under  God  the  Union 
had  received  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and,  purified 
by  the  fires  through  which  it  had  passed,  had  risen 
grander  and  more  august  among  the  nations. 

Silently  as   snowflakes  melt   into   the  sea,  the 
men  who  composed  our  armies   passed  into  the 


288   ORATION  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

general  life  of  that  community  which  they  had 
saved,  yet  not  as  drones  or  idlers,  but  to  carry  with 
them  into  the  occupations  of  peace  the  lessons  of 
courage,  fidelity,  and  patriotism  which  they  had 
learned  on  the  grim  fields  of  war.  Their  bugles 
will  wake  no  more  the  morning  echoes  as  they 
salute  with  their  reveille  the  coming  day ;  the  de 
scending  night  will  hear  no  more  the  rolling  tattoo 
of  their  drums ;  their  cannon  long  since  have  ut 
tered  their  last  note  of  defiance  or  of  victory ;  yet 
impartial  history  shall  record  that  no  army  was 
ever  assembled  with  higher  aims  and  loftier  pur 
poses,  none  more  ardent  with  the  sacred  flame  of 
patriotism,  none  more  calm  and  resolute  in  disaster, 
and  none  more  generous  and  forgiving  in  victory. 
So  long  as  the  flag  that  it  bore  at  the  head  of  its 
marching  columns  shall  wave  above  a  free  and 
united  people,  it  shall  be  remembered  with  grati 
tude  that  in  its  day  and  generation  it  did  for  this 
country  deeds  worthy  of  immortal  honor,  and  that 
the  army  that  preserved  is  worthy  to  stand  side 
by  side  with  the  army  that  achieved  the  liberty  of 
the  Republic. 

The  material  evidences  of  the  conflict  pass  rapidly 
away.  The  earthworks  with  which  the  land  was 
covered  sink  to  the  level  of  the  surrounding  soil, 
and  scarp  and  counterscarp  meet  in  the  ditch  that 
once  divided  them.  So  let  the  evil  feelings  which 
the  strife  engendered  fade  away.  The  war  is 
marked  definitely  only  by  the  great  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  That 


ORATION  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION.   289 

these  embody  more  than  the  fair  results  of  the 
contest ;  that  they  are  intended  to  do  more  than 
to  state  in  a  definite  and  permanent  form  the 
principles  of  justice,  freedom,  equality  before  the 
law  for  all  men, -- cannot  be  seriously  main 
tained  ;  that  they  should  be  fully  and  generously 
obeyed,  cannot  be  seriously  contested.  The  vic 
tory  gained  was  for  the  South  as  well  as  the  North. 
Already  in  agriculture,  formerly  almost  her  only 
source  of  revenue,  her  production  has  vastly  in 
creased  ;  while  the  opening  of  mines,  the  develop 
ment  of  manufactures,  the  rise  of  great  towns 
and  cities  where  formerly  existed  but  scattered 
hamlets,  attest  the  inspiration  she  has  caught  from 
freedom.  Year  by  year,  as  time  rolls  on,  she  is 
destined  to  feel  the  influences  of  that  steady 
force  which  is  impelling  the  country  forward,  nor 
will  she  lag  behind  in  the  march  of  peace  and 
prosperity. 

Companions,  while  we  have  a  right  to  rejoice  in 
all  that  brave  hearts  and  strong  arms  have  won, 
no  occasion  that  draws  together  those  who  survive 
of  the  armies  of  the  Union  can  be  one  of  unmixed 
joy.  With  proud  memories  come  also  those  that 
are  grave  and  sad.  Nor  if  I  recall  those  who  are 
gone  before  us,  would  I  do  so  to  diminish  by  one 
jot  or  tittle  the  pleasure  of  our  present  gathering, 
but  rather  to  ennoble  and  dignify  it.  I  would  re 
member  them  as  each  one  of  us  would  wish  to  be 
recalled  in  the  hour  of  decent  mirth  and  of  social 
enjoyment,  when  hand  clasps  hand  in  friendship 

19 


290      ORATION   BEFORE   THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

and  mutual  esteem.  There  are  no  words  which 
can  render  a  just  tribute  to  those  whose  deeds  are 
their  true  eulogy ;  there  is  no  honor  too  high  for 
those  who  gave  their  lives  willingly  rather  than 
that  a  single  star  should  be  obscured  on  the  mighty 
shield  on  which  are  emblazoned  the  arms  of  the 
Union. 

Nor  do  you  need  to  be  reminded  how  many  have 
passed  away  since  the  war,  and  how  steadily  the 
fierce  artillery  of  time  is  doing  its  work.  Close  up 
the  ranks  as  best  we  can,  we  are  an  army  to  which 
there  come  no  recruits.  Generous  as  is  this  gath 
ering  at  our  Twenty-fifth  Anniversary,  how  few 
can  expect  to  join  in  the  Fiftieth  !  Without  doubt 
there  will  be  some  who  will  with  more  feeble 
voices  seek  to  raise  the  ringing  cheer  with  which 
we  once  answered  the  Rebel  yell,  even  if  soon  they 
too  must  yield  to  the  common  lot  of  man.  The 
chiefs  of  this  organization,  the  predecessors  of  its 
present  Commander  (wrho  I  trust  may  long  be 
spared), — General  Cad walader,  that  model  of  a 
gentleman  and  soldier,  the  splendid  Hancock,  the 
fiery  and  impetuous  Sheridan,  —  all  are  gone.  Yet 
let  me  not  mention  names, — lest  by  mentioning 
some  I  might  seem  to  omit  others  equally  worthy, 
—  save  the  great  name  of  Grant  alone.  He  was  the 
Commander  of  all  the  armies,  to  his  trumpet-call 
each  one  of  us  has  answered,  and  to  him  it  was 
given  to  end  our  great  strife  with  a  victory  which 
enabled  him  to  exclaim,  "  Let  us  have  peace." 

How  many  are  missing  to-day  at   the   roll-call 


ORATION  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION.   291 

you  know  but  too  well.  Even  if  our  voices  may 
falter  and  our  utterances  choke  as  the  name  of  some 
honored  chieftain  who  has  led  us  rises  to  our  lips, 
or  of  some  dear  friend,  it  may  be,  who  has  shared 
our  mess  and  our  blanket,  we  recall  them  in  honor, 
and  not  in  sorrow.  So  would  we  remember  all,— 
not  alone  the  great  chiefs  who  urged  forward  the 
onset  of  mighty  battalions,  but  the  humble,  faith 
ful  soldier  who  did  his  duty  manfully.  Wherever 
those  gallant  spirits  have  passed  to  their  long  re 
pose, —  whether  they  sleep  in  the  bayous  of  the 
Mississippi,  or  by  the  waters  of  the  Potomac,  the 
Cumberland,  or  the  Tennessee,  in  the  tangled  wild- 
wood,  or  in  the  shadow  of  their  own  homes  with 
the  monumental  marble  high  above  their  breasts,  - 
all  in  memory  are  welcome  here.  "  The  whole 
earth,"  says  Pericles,  "  is  the  sepulchre  of  illus 
trious  men  ; "  and  our  mountains  seem  to  lift  their 
heads  more  loftily  for  the  brave  who  lie  upon  their 
crests,  and  our  rivers  to  move  to  the  sea  with 
a  prouder  sweep  for  those  whose  life-blood  has 
mingled  with  their  streams  :  — 

"  They  fell  devoted  but  undying; 
The  very  gale  their  names  seems  sighing  ; 
The  waters  murmur  of 'their  name 
The  woods  are  peopled  with  their  fame  ; 
The  meanest  rill,  the  mightiest  river, 
Roll  mingling  with  their  fame  forever." 

Nor,  Companions,  in  this  hour  do  we  fail  to  re 
member  him,  not  a  soldier  indeed,  but  to  whose 
military  capacity,  developed  by  years  of  anxious 
study,  tardy  justice  is  just  beginning  to  be  done, 


292   ORATION  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

who  was,  by  the  Constitution,  the  Commander  of 
the  army  and  navy,  the  then  President  of  the 
United  States,  —  him  upon  whom  the  faith  of  all 
citizens  and  soldiers,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor, 
alike,  had  rested  secure  during  those  terrible  years, 
and  whose  own  heart  was  large  enough  to  embrace 
in  love  and  charity  all  that  people  over  whom 
Providence  had  placed  him,  to  be  their  ruler  and 
guide  in  the  supreme  hour  of  their  destiny. 
Twenty-five  years  ago  to-day  he  passed  from  the 
ranks  of  living  men,  yet  each  year  has  added  to 
that  pure  and  splendid  fame.  Every  record,  every 
newly  discovered  act  or  letter  which  loving  industry 
brings  to  light,  but  serves  to  reveal  how  kind  and 
good,  how  wise  and  great  he  was. 

On  the  day  after  its  capture,  when  he  visited 
Richmond,  it  was  my  own  good  fortune  to  ride 
side  by  side  with  him  in  the  headquarters'  army- 
wagon  which  conveyed  him  through  the  streets  of 
that  city  so  long  the  citadel  of  the  Confederacy. 
He  seemed  weary  and  tired,  graver  than  I  had 
ever  seen  him,  less  rejoicing  in  the  triumph  'that 
had  been  won  than  anxious  about  the  new  prob 
lems  looming  up  before  him.  It  may  be  that  I 
interpret  the  recollections  of  that  hour  in  the  bale 
ful  light  of  the  dreadful  tragedy  that  so  soon  fol 
lowed  ;  yet,  as  I  recall  it,  he  seemed  to  me  like 
one  who  felt  that  his  life's  work  was  done,  and 
who  would  willingly  rest  from  his  labors,  that  his 
works  might  follow  him.  The  ways  of  Provi 
dence  are  not  always  ours;  it  may  be  that  it  was 
decreed  that  this  great  life  should  end  in  the  very 


ORATION  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION.   293 

hour  of  victory  by  the  assassin's  hand,  because  it 
was  seen  by  a  wider  vision  than  we  possess  that  to 
that  life  of  self-sacrifice  and  patriotic  devotion  the 
noblest  close  was  that  which  has  invested  him  for 
ever  with  the  martyr's  crown.  It  is  not  always 
to  those  who  achieve  success  that  its  temporal 
enjoyment  is  granted ;  the  reward  of  high  heroic 
souls  is  in  their  own  sense  of  duty  performed,  of 
trial  and  sacrifice  resolutely  endured,  in  the  con 
sciousness  that  others  will  reap  all  for  which  they 
have  bravely  striven. 

In  the  older  Scriptures  the  stately  figure  of  the 
great  Hebrew  law-giver  and  warrior  stands  on  the 
lonely  hill  in  the  land  of  Moab  to  gaze  out  over 
the  Promised  Land,  which  it  is  decreed  he  shall 
never  enter.  Fair  before  him  stretch  the  fertile 
fields,  yet  no  crops  from  them  shall  ever  fill  his 
garners.  The  sparkling  waters  dance  in  the  sun 
light,  yet  no  draught  from  them  shall  ever  refresh 
his  weary  lips.  He  has  crossed  at  the  head  of  the 
children  of  Israel  the  stormy  waters  of  the  Red 
Sea ;  he  has  led  them  through  the  forty  years  of 
wandering  in  the  wilderness.  For  them  the  hour 
of  enjoyment  has  come.  His  work  is  done  ;  for 
him  it  remains  but  to  rest  in  his  lonely  grave. 
So  to  this  our  Moses,  who  had  led  us  tli rough 
the  Red  Sea  of  Rebellion,  is  vouchsafed  but  a 
glimpse  of  the  Promised  Land,  as  he  passes  from 
mortal  sight  forever. 

"  Beautiful  upon  the  mountains,"  says  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  "  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bring- 


294   ORATION"  BEFORE  THE  LOYAL  LEGION. 

eth  good  tidings."  Yet  as  the  messengers  approach 
we  see  that  their  countenances  are  grave,  that  their 
garments  are  worn,  that  their  feet  are  torn  by  the 
flinty  way;  but  beautiful  are  they  still  for  the 
glad  tidings  which  they  bear.  And  as  in  imagina 
tion  there  rises  again  before  us  the  tall  figure  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  not  graceful  according  to  the 
rules  of  classic  art,  yet  not  without  its  own  sim 
ple  majesty  ;  as  we  behold  again  that  rugged  coun 
tenance,  deep  graven  with  the  lines  of  princely 
care, — we  see  it  illumined  with  a  nobler  light 
than  the  cunning  hand  of  the  Greek  could  give  to 
the  massive  brow  of  the  Olympian  Jupiter  ;  beau 
tiful  in  the  radiance  of 'truth  and  justice,  while  the 
scroll  that  he  holds  in  his  strong  right  hand  bears 
the  glad  tidings  of  liberty  to  all  men. 

Companions,  my  brief  task  is  ended.  In  the 
conflict  and  in  the  years  which  have  followed  the 
war,  half  of  what  were  once  our  numbers,  it  is 
probable,  have  passed  the  barrier  which  separates 
the  seen  from  the  unseen  world.  They  are  the 
advance  of  that  army  of  which  we  are  the  rear 
guard.  Somewhere  they  have  halted  for  us,  some 
where  they  are  waiting  for  us.  Steadily  we  are 
closing  up  to  them.  Let  us  sling  on  our  knapsacks 
as  of  old ;  let  us  cheerily  go  forward  in  the  full 
faith  that  by  fidelity  to  duty,  by  loyalty  to  liberty, 
by  devotion  to  the  country  which  is  the  mother 
of  us  all.  we  are  one  army  still. 

THE  END. 


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